As US President Joe Biden is visiting Normandy in France for the 80th anniversary of D-Day, he was adamant in reassuring that US weapons would not be used to strike Moscow or the Kremlin.
Biden said this during an exclusive interview with ABC News at the Normandy American Cemetery.
President Biden was asked if US-made weapons have already been used in Russia since he signed off on their use, limiting use to areas near the Kharkiv Oblast.
The president did not directly answer, but made clear they would not be authorized to be used to target Russia’s capital city or seat of government.
“They’re authorized to be used in proximity to the border when they’re being used on the other side of the border to attack specific targets in Ukraine,” Biden said.
Furthermore, Biden stated that “we’re not authorizing strikes 200 miles into Russia and we’re not authorizing strikes on Moscow, on the Kremlin.”
The journalist asked Biden of he was concerned about Vladimir Putin’s comments overnight, that ”the supply of high-precision weapons to Ukraine for strikes on Russian territory is direct participation in this war.”
Biden answered by saying that he has “known him for over 40 years. He’s concerned me for 40 years. He’s not a decent man.”
“He’s a dictator, and he’s struggling to make sure he holds his country together while still keeping this assault going,” Biden said.
”We’re not talking about giving them weapons to strike Moscow, to strike the Kremlin, to strike against — just across the border, where they’re receiving significant fire from conventional weapons used by the Russians to go into Ukraine to kill Ukrainians,” Biden stated.
D-Day
Biden is in France to commemorate the day Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy in 1944, setting off a chain of events that led to the fall of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II.
Later Thursday, Biden plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the war effort.
During the commemoration, the President of the US said that “we’re living in a time when democracy is more at risk across the world than at any point since the end of World War II. Isolationism was not the answer 80 years ago and is not the answer today.”
Speaking in Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied operation, Biden drew direct parallels between Nazi Germany and the threats facing Western democracies today, including in Eastern Europe.
The US president made a special reference to Ukraine, which was “invaded by a tyrant seeking to dominate.”
Read more:
- Zelenskyy in France for D-Day anniversary, calls for ”true unity” to prevail
- Politico: Zelenskyy eyeing D-Day, G7 to rally more Western support against Russia
- Minister: EU foreign ministers approve frozen Russian assets proceeds use to help Ukraine
- US Defense Secretary Austin reaffirms restrictions on Ukraine’s use of American weapons in Russia
- FT: G7 finance ministers back plan to use Russian assets to finance Ukraine
