Russia has responded to an announcement by U.S. President Joe Biden to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles against them.
Russia has warned that Ukraine’s use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles will prompt a “tangible and appropriate” response.
The U.S, France, and Britain authorized Ukraine to use their long-range weapons to strike deep into Russian territory, a move considered as a ‘provocation’ by Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro-an, an ally of Russia.
Ukraine has received US ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) with a range of about 300km – as well as French and British Storm Shadow missiles of a similar range, but the Western allies had barred Kyiv from hitting Russia with them.
Biden’s decision to lift that condition is a significant moment in the war, which marks its 1,000th day on Tuesday.
Biden’s approval of the use the long missiles is seen by the West as a signal to Russia that they cannot win the war militarily.
The U.S. decision also coincides with the deployment of over 10,000 North Korean troops to Russia’s western Kursk region, where Ukrainian forces have reportedly seized and are holding up a small section of the territory. The North Korean troops are expected to bolster President Vladimir Putin’s forces in the ongoing conflict.
Unconfirmed reports say North Korea may send as many as 100,000 soldiers, in addition to artillery and other weapons, to its ally.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated there may be no formal announcement of the US deal – “the missiles will speak for themselves,” he said on Sunday.
Ukraine may use the ATACMS first in the Kursk region. Some reports suggest the US may have restricted their use there as a signal to North Korea to stop sending aid to Russia and to Moscow itself.
On Monday, Putin’s spokesman said that the U.S. was “adding oil to the fire”.
Russian foreign ministry in a statement,t stated that such an attack inside Russian territory “would represent the direct involvement of the United States and its satellites in hostilities against Russia”.
However, US Deputy National Security Adviser but Jon Finer said Washington had made it “clear to the Russians that we would respond”, both to the presence of North Korean troops and the “major escalation” in Russian aerial attacks on infrastructure across Ukraine.
The weekend saw intense Russian attacks against Ukraine’s power grid, causing large-scale blackouts. Several people were killed and injured.
Meanwhile, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has not reacted to Biden’s decision so far. After his victory on November 5, Trump promised to end US involvement in foreign wars and use the taxpayers’ money to improve the lives of Americans.
He has also said he will end the Ukraine war within 24 hours but has not given details on how. Zelensky recently said he expected Trump to exert pressure on Ukraine and Russia to agree on a peace deal within the next year.
The potential use of U.S. long-range missiles by Ukraine raises concerns of a broader confrontation between Russia and NATO. While the U.S. and its allies maintain that their support for Ukraine is defensive in nature, Moscow’s framing of such actions as acts of war could bring the conflict to an even more dangerous level.
As the situation unfolds, the risk of miscalculation grows, with implications for Ukraine and Russia and global stability. For now, the world watches closely as tensions between these nuclear-armed powers continue to rise. Let us know what you think about these latest developments in the comment section below. Like and subscribe for more updates.
