The U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed on Friday (May 31) that President Biden has approved Ukraine’s use of U.S. weapons to target Russian targets inside Ukraine after Ukraine sought authorization from the United States in recent weeks.
Following an informal NATO foreign ministers meeting on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made remarks at a press conference held in Prague.
He stated that this move by Washington is a result of the U.S. adjusting and adapting its battlefield strategy. President Biden had previously firmly rejected Ukraine’s use of U.S. weapons to strike inside Russia. Blinken said that the U.S. is now responding to the situation it sees in Kharkiv and its surrounding areas.
Russia is currently attacking the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
“In the past few weeks, Ukraine came to us requesting authorization to use the weapons we provided to resist aggression, including repelling Russian troops assembled on the border with Russia and then entering Ukraine,” Blinken said.
“We reported this situation directly to the president, and as you have heard, he has approved the use of our weapons for this purpose,” he said. “Looking ahead, we will continue to do what we have always done, which is to make necessary adjustments and adaptations as needed.”
Kharkiv is the second-largest city in Ukraine, located 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Russian border.
U.S. officials stated on Thursday that U.S. policy will continue to prohibit the Ukrainian military from using long-range weapons provided by the U.S., such as ATACMS with a range of up to 186 miles (300 kilometers), for deep strikes inside Russia.
Blinken’s remarks were echoed by NATO. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg rejected Russian President Putin’s warning on Friday that allowing Ukraine to use Western weapons to attack targets inside Russia could escalate the situation.
Stoltenberg, speaking during a speech at the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Prague, stated that the military alliance has heard such warnings many times before, and defending the right to self-defense does not escalate the war.
“This is not something new. For a long time, every time NATO allies support Ukraine, President Putin tries to threaten us not to do so,” he told reporters. “And escalation – well, Russia escalating by invading another country is what escalates the situation.”
“Ukraine has the right to self-defense, and we have the right to help Ukraine defend its right to self-defense, but that does not mean that NATO allies become parties to the conflict,” Stoltenberg added. “This was the case in February 2022, last year, and remains so now.”
Russian President Putin warned NATO member countries on Tuesday not to allow Ukraine to launch weapons against Russia and raised the risk of nuclear war again after several NATO countries lifted restrictions on donating weapons to Kyiv.
A German government spokesperson in Berlin stated on Friday that under international law, Ukraine can use weapons provided by Berlin to defend against attacks launched from inside Russia targeting the border areas of Kharkiv.
Russian senior security official Dmitry Medvedev stated on Friday that Russia is not bluffing when discussing the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine, warning that the conflict between Moscow and the West could escalate to a full-scale war.
Medvedev, a former Russian president who currently serves as Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, said that the conflict between Moscow and the West is moving in the worst direction, and “today, no one can rule out the possibility of the conflict transitioning to the final stage.”
In Prague, Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot emphasized on Friday that Ukraine has the right to defend itself and there are no territorial restrictions on the use of weapons.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski stated on Friday that Warsaw has never imposed such restrictions.
“We wish Ukraine victory, we wish them to regain all occupied territories… Ukraine has the right to self-defense according to the rules of humanitarian law.”