U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Brian A. Nichols indirectly acknowledged on Nov. 18 that U.S. President Joe Biden had authorized Ukraine to use American weapons to strike Russian territory.
“The weapons President Biden authorized Ukraine to use will give it more capabilities to defend itself and, hopefully, make the Russian Federation understand that using force to seize Ukrainian territory will not succeed,” Nichols said in an interview with the Brazilian newspaper O Globo, responding to a question about Biden easing restrictions.
His comments followed reports saying Biden had authorized Ukraine to use American-supplied ATACMS missiles for strikes inside Russia, marking a notable shift in U.S. policy. Officials in Kyiv and Washington have been largely evasive when asked about the reports.
Nichols reiterated that the war could end immediately if Russia withdrew its forces and respected Ukraine’s borders, calling Moscow’s invasion “unprovoked.”
“The war began with Russia’s new unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The conflict in Ukraine could end right now if Russia withdrew its troops from Ukraine and respected Ukraine’s borders,” Nichols said.
The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Nov. 18 that Washington had “authorized the use of its weapons up to 300 kilometers (190 miles) inside Russian territory.” This distance coincides with the estimated range of ATACMS missiles.
Unnamed U.S. officials and a source familiar with the decision told Reuters that Ukraine plans to conduct its first long-range strikes in the coming days without providing operational details.
Another source confirmed to Axios that the strikes are limited to Kursk Oblast and that the decision was communicated to Kyiv three days earlier, Axios reported on Nov. 18.
Sonya Bandouil