US President Joe Biden’s decision to lift restrictions on the use of American-made long-range weapons deep inside Russian territory is “significant in terms of the end game,” former senior NATO official Nicholas Williams said in an interview with Sky News.
Despite Ukraine’s months-long appeals amid Russian air attacks and offensives in Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts, Western nations continued to restrict the use of their long-range weapons like ATACMS. Ukraine needed permission to strike inside Russia, but the Western leaders refused, reportedly to avoid further escalation. On 17 November, US officials said that US President Joe Biden had given the green light for Ukraine to use long-range missiles.
Zelenskyy neither confirms nor denies approval for strikes inside Russia with ATACMS, Storm Shadow
According to the former NATO official, Biden’s decision is crucial when it comes to positioning Ukraine to not make the substantial concessions demanded by Russia to achieve peace.
“It is significant. The Ukrainians may say it’s too little too late, but it’s not too late to affect the end game,” Williams believes.
He also noted that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin “didn’t show that the Kremlin leader was willing to compromise or willing to go the extra mile to get peace.” Williams suggested this might have influenced the decision on long-range weapons.
He emphasized that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will target exclusively military objectives in Russia that could impact the border or ongoing battles.
Earlier, Le Figaro reported the US, France and Germany also removed restrictions on strikes with Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles. However, the publication later clarified that Berlin and Paris had already permitted Ukraine to strike deep into Russian territory with their missiles.
It was noted that following the lifting of the ban on ATACMS strikes, Ukraine’s Defense Forces can now target Russian and North Korean military assets in Kursk Oblast.
In response, Russia threatened that such decisions allegedly make NATO a direct participant in the war in Ukraine, as per UNIAN. The Russian Federation Council called it a step toward World War III.
Related:
- Scholz caused German government crisis by denying Ukraine Taurus missiles, fired minister says
- Canada pushes allies to approve Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russia with Western weapons
- Reuters: Putin again threatens “range of responses” if deep Russia strikes allowed
