New York: Ukraine on Monday welcomed a decision by the Joe Biden administration to allow it to attack targets inside Russia with US-supplied long-range missiles, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy suggesting that the first launches would come soon and without warning.
About President Joe Biden's Decision
Biden's decision has come on the eve of the 1000th day of the war in Ukraine. Ukrainian officials have long reasoned that firing at targets deep inside Russia would unshackle the country's military from restraints that have prevented it from effectively taking the fight to Russia. American officials told the New York Times that the missiles were likely to be deployed at least initially, against combined Russian and North Korean troops in territory Ukraine has captured in the Kursk region of southern Russia.
The addition of up to 10,000 North Korean troops to Moscow’s war effort this fall has alarmed the United States and European nations. who view it as widening the war by drawing Russian allies directly into the ground combat, adds the NYT. The decision has heralded a torrent of apocalyptic warnings from Russian lawmakers.
“This is a very big step towards the beginning of the Third World War,” said Putin-loyalist Vladimir Dzhabarov, deputy chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the upper house and a retired security service general.
Putin himself is yet to respond to the major change in ‘Western policy. But, in October, he had warned that long-range missile strikes on his territory would mean the West was 'at war with Russia' because only NATO specialists - and not Ukrainians - could fix these missiles onto their targets.
“If this is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be posed to us,” Putin had said.
Downing Street Yet To Issue A Response
In the UK, Downing Street is yet to issue a response to Biden's decision, which has not been officially announced but has been widely reported in the US. But Sir Keir Starmer said 'we need to double down' on support for Ukraine and the issue was 'top" of his agenda at this week's G20 summit of world leaders in Brazil.
Biden will be at the gathering, while Russia will be represented by foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. News of Biden’s change came on the day a Russian ballistic missile with cluster munitions struck a residential area of Sumy, a city in northern Ukraine, killing 11 people, including two children, and injuring 84 others.
