MOSCOW: The Kremlin on Monday said that US President Joe Biden’s administration is fuelling tensions by allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles for strikes deep into Russia.
“If such a decision has indeed been formulated and communicated to Kyiv, then, of course, this is a qualitatively new round of escalation of tensions and a qualitatively new situation in terms of the involvement of the United States in this conflict,” Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“We are proceeding from this,” he emphasised. He said Moscow’s position should be absolutely clear to everyone, Russian News Agency, TASS reported.
“These signals have been received by the collective West. And they were voiced by the president,” Peskov recalled.
Earlier, The New York Times, citing US officials, reported that US President Joe Biden for the first time allowed the Ukrainian military to use long-range ATACMS missiles to strike inside Russia.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said “Such things are not announced, missiles speak for themselves”.
The development marks a significant change in Washington’s earlier stance, which had tried to avoid direct involvement in the conflict.
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As per reports Ukraine is expected to deploy ATACMS for its long-range strikes. These missiles, with a range of approximately 306 kilometres, could target Russian military installations deep within its territory.
A close foreign policy adviser to Trump, Richard Grenell, criticised Biden’s decision, describing it as an unnecessary escalation. “Escalating wars before leaving office,” Grenell posted on X.
NATO countries have so far refrained from permitting their supplied weapons to be used for strikes inside Russia.
Ukrinform, the official news agency for Ukraine reported that Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in a statement said the United States had responded to Russia’s reported use of North Korean troops and its latest large-scale missile attack on Ukraine by permitting Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia using ATACMS missiles.
The US has been the greatest supplier of weapons to Ukraine. According to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German research organisation from the start of the war and the end of June 2024, the US delivered or committed to sending weapons and equipment worth $55.5bn.
