According to a US official and three other people familiar with the situation, President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use US-supplied missiles to strike deeper inside Russia, easing restrictions on longer-range weapons as Russia deploys thousands of North Korean troops to bolster its war effort.
The decision to authorize Kyiv to employ the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMs, for attacks deeper into Russia comes as President Vladimir Putin posts North Korean troops along Ukraine’s northern border, attempting to recapture hundreds of miles of land seized by Ukrainian forces.
Biden’s move comes after Donald Trump’s presidential election victory, in which he promised to bring the war to an end quickly and raised questions about whether his government will continue the United States’ critical military backing for Ukraine.
The official and others familiar with the situation were not authorized to discuss the U.S. decision publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s reaction on Sunday was noticeably reserved.
“Strikes are not made with words,” he stated in his nightly video message. “These things are not announced. “The missiles will speak for themselves.”
Zelenskyy and many of his Western backers have been pressuring Biden for months to enable Ukraine to use Western-supplied missiles to hit military targets further within Russia, claiming that the US restriction made it difficult for Ukraine to try to stop Russian strikes on its cities and power networks.
Zelenskyy’s statement came shortly after he wrote a message of condolence on Telegram in response to a Russian attack on a nine-story building in Sumy, 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the Russian border.
Russia also launched a major drone and missile attack, described by officials as the most significant in recent months, targeting energy facilities and killing civilians. The attack came as suspicions grew over Moscow’s plans to decimate Ukraine’s power producing capabilities before winter.
“And this is the answer to everyone who tried to achieve something with Putin through talks, phone calls, hugs and appeasement,” according to Zelenskyy.
The remark looked to be a dig at German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who spoke with Putin on Friday, the first such call with a sitting head of a major Western state in nearly two years.
Some supporters argue that the limitation, along with other US constraints, could cost Ukraine the war. The argument has sparked dispute among Ukraine’s NATO members.
Biden had remained opposed, keen to prevent any escalation that he believed would bring the United States and other NATO members into direct combat with nuclear-armed Russia.
Putin has threatened that if NATO partners allow Ukraine to use its weapons to attack Russian territory, Moscow may provide others with long-range weaponry to strike Western targets.
Biden’s decision came after two days of consultations with the leaders of South Korea, Japan, and China. The presence of North Korean forces was key to the negotiations, which took place on the fringes of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Peru.
Biden made no mention of the decision during a speech at a stop in Brazil’s Amazon jungle on his way to the G20 conference.
When asked about the decision, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that the U.N.’s goal is “to avoid a permanent deterioration of the war in Ukraine.”
“We want peace, and we want fair peace,” Guterres said Sunday, ahead of the conference in Rio de Janeiro. He did not elaborate.
According to one source acquainted with the situation, the longer-range missiles will most likely be employed in retaliation to North Korea’s decision to support Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
The entire supply of ATACMS missiles is limited, so U.S. officials have already questioned whether they could provide Ukraine with enough to make a difference. Some Ukrainian backers argue that even a few attacks farther into Russia would force the country’s military to adjust its deployments and waste more money.
North Korea has sent thousands of troops to Russia to assist Moscow reclaim land in the Kursk border region, which Ukraine seized earlier this year. The addition of North Korean troops to the fight comes as Moscow experiences a positive shift in momentum. Trump has hinted that he may press Ukraine to agree to give up some land captured by Russia in order to resolve the conflict.
According to estimates from the United States, South Korea, and Ukraine, up to 12,000 North Korean personnel have been deployed in Russia. According to US and South Korean intelligence officials, North Korea has also provided Russia with considerable amounts of ammunition to replenish its depleted weapon stocks.
Trump, who takes office in January, spent months as a candidate talking about wanting Russia’s war in Ukraine to end, but he generally avoided questions about whether he wanted US ally Ukraine to win.
He also attacked the Biden administration for providing Kyiv with tens of billions of dollars in aid. His win has Ukraine’s international supporters concerned that any hurried settlement will only favor Putin.
America is Ukraine’s most important ally in the war, having provided more than $56.2 billion in security support since Russian forces invaded in February 2022.
Concerned about Russia’s response, the Biden administration has repeatedly delayed sending some of the specific advanced weapons sought by Ukraine, agreeing only under pressure from Kyiv, its backers, and after consulting with friends.
This included initially rejecting Zelenskyy’s requests for upgraded tanks, Patriot air defense systems, and F-16 fighter jets, among other things.
In May, the White House decided to authorize Ukraine to employ US-supplied weapons for limited operations just across the border from Russia.