US authorises Ukraine to use long-range missiles against Russia
In a strategic shift just weeks before Donald Trump's inauguration, Washington has authorised Ukraine, according to a US official, to attack Russia with its long-range missiles. Moscow said on Monday that the decision would only escalate the conflict.
Russia, which announced on Monday morning that it had shot down 59 Ukrainian drones, particularly over Ukraine's border regions and in the Moscow area, said that the United States was ‘adding fuel to the fire’ with this decision.
If officially confirmed by Washington, the authorisation would lead to ‘a fundamentally new situation in terms of US involvement in this conflict’, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned.
The United States ‘has given the green light for the use of long-range missiles,’ a senior US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Sunday, confirming reports in The New York Times and The Washington Post that the move was in response to the deployment of North Korean troops to help Moscow.
According to Kiev, some 11,000 North Korean troops are already deployed in Russia and have reportedly begun fighting in Russia's Kursk region, which is partly controlled by Ukrainian troops.
Democratic President Joe Biden is thus acceding to Kiev's request shortly before he leaves the White House and the return of Republican Trump, who is highly critical of US aid to Ukraine.
Kiev has long sought authorisation to use Western long-range weapons to attack bases from which Russia launches its bombing raids and to counter the advance of Russian troops in the east.
Until now, NATO countries have been reluctant, fearing an escalation.
But on Monday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot reaffirmed in Brussels that his government does not rule out using its long-range missiles.
‘We have said that this is an option we would consider if it allows strikes against targets from which Russia attacks Ukrainian territory,’ he said as he arrived at a meeting of EU foreign ministers.
And former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday called on Paris and London to allow Ukraine to use these strategic weapons as the United States did.
‘It should have been done 18 months ago,’ Johnson said of Washington's strategic shift on France Inter radio.
China calls for peace in Ukraine
China, which presents itself as a neutral party in the Russia-Ukraine war despite being a close political and economic ally of Moscow, reacted on Monday by calling for a ‘quick ceasefire and a political solution’.
‘The most urgent thing is to promote the situation to calm down as soon as possible,’ said Lin Jian, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman.
Ukraine's own president, Volodimir Zelenski, himself gave a cautious welcome to the US official's announcement on Sunday evening.
‘Today, many media outlets are reporting that we have received authorisation to take appropriate measures,’ he said. ‘But attacks are not carried out with words. These things are not announced,’ he said, adding that the missiles will speak for themselves’.
These missiles, with a range of several hundred kilometres, would allow Ukraine to attack Russian army logistics centres and the airfields from which its bombers take off.
The US-supplied ATACMS missiles should initially be used in the Russian border region of Kursk, where North Korean soldiers have been deployed in support of Russian troops, according to the New York Times.
The decision came hours after a massive Russian bombardment of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, which left at least 11 people dead and forced the country to announce power cuts on Monday.
This comes as the dreaded winter approaches in those regions of Europe.
The massive Russian bombing sparked a cascade of international condemnation of President Vladimir Putin's government.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Sunday condemned the ‘unacceptable’ Russian attacks, which targeted ‘civilians and energy facilities’.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called the bombings ‘horrific’ in an interview with Globo TV in Rio de Janeiro, where the G20 summit will be held on Monday and Tuesday.
‘We will support Ukraine for as long as necessary [...] You can count on us,’ she added.
