Washington to permit Ukraine to use US weapons in Russia | ABC News
well us officials say President Joe Biden will soon allow Ukraine to use supplied weapons inside Russian territory on a limited basis kev’s forces have been struggling to hold back Russian forces near Ukraine’s second largest city of H it’s come under Relentless attack since Moscow launched its new incursion in the Northeast more than 2 years after Russian forces invaded Ukrainian forces had previously been restricted from using internationally supplied ammunition Miss in crossborder attacks now officials from the Biden Administration have told reporters it will give Ukraine permission to use its weapons for targets inside Russia but only to defend H mck Ryan is a retired military General in the Australian Army non-resident fellow of the low Institute and the Washington base Center for strategic and International Studies uh good morning thanks for your time good morning just how significant is this reversal well this is a change to a policy that’s been in place since right at the beginning of the war and one that despite repeated requests the US Administration has refused to change until now and we should acknowledge this is not a full reversal of that policy it’s a partial one that’s geographically restricted okay so can you just take us through what the reversal is and those caveats around there and what the main implications will be so the change in the US administration’s policy now says that the ukrainians can use us supplied weapons in the K region to prevent attacks against K and its surrounding areas from both Russian ground forces and importantly Russian uh Air Force bombers and fighter aircraft now whether this also includes tactical aircraft that use these very destructive Glide bombs against Ukrainian troops we’re not sure but it is geographically restricted at this point in time okay so how big a boost is this going to be for Ukraine forces well I think it’ll be a boost in the KH area although the horse is kind of bolted the Russian forces have launched their offensive there it could come in handy if the Russians want to do something around Sumi and really many people will be hoping this is just the beginning of the full reversal of this policy not just the partial one and we’ve seen today I mean How likely is a full reversal we heard from us officials um on this announcement saying uh that the policy of not allowing long R strikes inside Russia has not changed how confident are you that there would be a full reversal well I think we’ll see further changes that’s been the whole pattern of this war where the US and its allies have said no no no maybe maybe maybe okay I think we’ll see something similar here what we won’t see is the use of long range uh Us weapons for deep attacks inside Russia I think the the Americans will stick to that rule and the ukrainians will have to use their own weapons for these how do you expect Russia to uh respond to this do you expect that it will rethink its planning and execution in certain areas well certainly where Russia Ukraine share a border they will but many Russian attacks are planed concentrated and launched from uh occupied Ukraine so it’s not going to change those kind of operations it will change uh Russia’s approach to air operations and the launch of missiles where it does that Ukraine has proven it can shoot down Russian bombers it will hope to do more of that um and it might change how Russia seeks to interdict the supply of Western weapons including stepping up its current campaign of sabotage throughout Europe what are the major challenges of this uh tweak in policy if you like and I guess I’m asking if you know what if something goes wrong what is what if there is a miscalculation uh by Ukraine when it’s using uh these weapons yeah it will be interesting to watch if it shoots down a bomber just outside the geograph region prescribed by the us or destroys you know a troop concentration just outside of what the administration’s reaction will be it will probably show that it’s been a nonsensical policy all the way from the beginning of the war and they’re really going to have to rethink it could it inflame those tensions between uh Russia and the West particularly the United States well it’s hard to see how they could be further inflamed at the end of the day Russia’s conducting a genocidal invasion of Ukraine and the West is pushing back on it so I don’t see any further inflaming of that at this point in time
US President Joe Biden is set to allow Ukraine to deploy US-supplied weapons against targets inside Russian territory on a limited scale. The new permission will be limited to only missions with the objective of defending Kharkiv.
Subscribe: http://ab.co/1svxLVE
Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-31/biden-partially-lifts-ban-on-ukraine-using-us-arms/103916918
ABC News provides around the clock coverage of news events as they break in Australia and abroad. It’s news when you want it, from Australia’s most trusted news organisation.
For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY
Watch more ABC News content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1
Go deeper on our ABC News In-depth channel: https://ab.co/2lNeBn2
Like ABC News on Facebook: http://facebook.com/abcnews.au
Follow ABC News on Instagram: http://instagram.com/abcnews_au
Follow ABC News on X (Twitter): http://twitter.com/abcnews
Note: In most cases, our captions are auto-generated.
#ABCNews #ABCNewsAustralia