Joe Biden takes bold step, goes against President-elect Donald Trump's pledge

President Joe Biden has for the first time authorised the use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine to strike inside Russia, according to people familiar with the matter. The decision is a major U.S. policy shift and comes as Biden is about to leave office and President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to limit American support for Ukraine and end the war as soon as possible, as per reports.

The weapons are likely to be used in response to North Korea's decision to send thousands of troops to Russia in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, according to one of the people, AP reported.

The people were not authorised to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.


Poland on Sunday welcomed news that US President Joe Biden had cleared Ukraine to use long-range missiles against military targets inside Russia, something Kyiv had been urging for months, AFP reported.

"With the entry into the war of North Korea troops and (Sunday's) massive attack of Russian missiles, President Biden responded in a language that (Russian President) V.Putin understands," Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski posted on X.

"The victim of aggression has the right to defend himself," Sikorski added in his post. "Strength deters, weakness provokes."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long pushed for authorisation from Washington to use the powerful Army Tactical Missile System, known by its initials ATACMS, to hit targets inside Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that approval would mean that NATO was "at war" with his country -- a threat he has made previously when Ukraine's Western backers have escalated their military assistance to Kyiv.

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