The White House is finalizing a plan to ease restrictions on Ukraine striking deep into Russia with US-provided weapons.
A Western official and two other people familiar with the discussions told Politico on condition of anonymity.
According to one of the participants in the discussion, the relevant negotiations were held in a small group of high-ranking officials in the White House. The details of the plan are still being negotiated, but top politicians in Washington, London, and Kyiv have recently discussed expanding the territory inside the Russian Federation, which Ukraine can attack with American and British-made weapons. They also discussed the conditions under which Ukraine will be able to use British long-range missiles containing American components against Russia.
As the publication notes, the tone of the current talks between Washington and Kyiv has changed significantly compared to those that took place at the beginning of this summer. This signals that the Administration of US President Joe Biden may be ready to finally allow Ukraine to strike with its weapons deep into the Russian Federation.
Asked whether his administration would lift restrictions on the use of U.S. long-range weapons against Russia, Biden told reporters on Tuesday: "Weʼre working on that right now."
British defense leaders have been in discussions with their American counterparts for weeks to get the US to agree to Ukraineʼs use of Britainʼs Storm Shadow missiles to strike Russia. According to one person familiar with the progress of the negotiations, no decision has been made, but the issue will be raised at a meeting between President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Friday.
US lawmakers from both parties stepped up pressure this week on the administration to make a decision. Since Tuesday, some Republicans, a bipartisan group of more than 200 Ukraine supporters and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Ben Cardin have called for the move.
The day before, on Wednesday, Cardin said in an interview that he "wouldnʼt be surprised" if a decision had already been made. According to him, the Biden administration and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were busy overcoming the reluctance of some allies, including Germany, to acknowledge Ukraineʼs suffering from Russian shelling by allowing the use of long-range weapons for pre-emptive strikes deep into Russia for self-defense.
"The problem is not within the administration, but in how the administration feels about working with Europe. Itʼs about how far it can go," Cardin said.
Ban on attacks of Ukraine deep into Russia by the US and British weapons
Ukraine has long been asking its allies to allow their weapons to be used for long-range strikes deep into Russia. For such purposes, Ukraineʼs arsenal includes, in particular, American ATACMS surface-to-surface long-range missiles and British Storm Shadow long-range missiles.
However, none of these countries gave Ukraine permission to use their weapons for attacks deep into the Russian Federation. The US fears a possible escalation against the background of this decision. They also believe that lifting restrictions on long-range strikes will have no strategic significance in the war, because Russia has moved its most important targets, including aircraft, away from the border and made them inaccessible for strikes.
At the same time, Great Britain cannot allow such strikes to Ukraine due to resistance from the United States.
Politico also wrote that the US is not lifting restrictions on long-range strikes against the Russian Federation in order to be able to improve relations with Moscow in the future.