Blinken says Washington approved use of US weapons by Ukraine inside Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden approved Ukraine using U.S. weapons to strike targets inside Russia that were attacking the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, after Kyiv sought authorization from Washington in recent weeks, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed on Friday.
Speaking at a news conference in Prague after an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers, Blinken did not specifically say whether Biden's authorization could expand to include other Russian cities and targets that are deeper inside Russia.
He said Washington's move, a marked change in policy by Biden, who had steadfastly refused to allow Ukraine to use American weaponry for strikes inside Russia, was a result of U.S. strategy of adjusting and adapting to the battleground. Now, he said, the U.S. is responding to what it has seen in and around the Kharkiv region.
«Over the past few weeks, Ukraine came to us and asked for the authorization to use weapons that we're providing to defend against this aggression, including against Russian forces that are massing on the Russian side of the border and then attacking into Ukraine,» Blinken said.
«And that went right to the President, and as you've heard, he's approved use of our weapons for that purpose. Going forward, we'll continue to do what we've been doing, which is as necessary adapt and adjust,» Blinken said.
Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, is 19 miles (30 km) from the border with Russia.
It is the second time this year that Biden has quietly relaxed his policy on weapons supplies for
