President Joe Biden has authorized for the first time the use of long-range missiles supplied by the United States by Ukraine to attack inside Russia, according to a U.S. official and three individuals familiar with the matter.
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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 individuals. The official and people familiar with the matter were not authorized to discuss the decision publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and many of his Western supporters have been pressuring Biden for months to allow Ukraine to attack military targets inside Russia with missiles supplied by the West, saying that the US ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and power grids.
Some supporters have argued that this and other U.S. restrictions could cost Ukraine the war. The debate has become a source of disagreement among Ukraine's NATO allies.
Biden had remained against it, determined to hold the line against any escalation that he felt could drag the United States and other NATO members into direct conflict with Russia.
However, North Korea has deployed thousands of troops in Russia to help Moscow try to reclaim lands in the border region of Kursk that Ukraine seized this year. The introduction of North Korean troops into the conflict comes as Moscow has gained momentum. Trump has indicated that he could pressure Ukraine to agree to cede some lands taken by Russia in order to bring an end to the conflict.
According to assessments from the United States, South Korea, and Ukraine, up to 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia. Intelligence officials from the United States and South Korea say that North Korea has also provided significant amounts of ammunition to Russia to replenish their dwindling weapon arsenals.
Trump, who assumes office in January, spoke for months as a candidate about his desire for the Russian war in Ukraine to end, but mostly avoided questions about whether he wanted Ukraine, a US ally, to win.
He also repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for giving tens of billions of dollars in aid to Kiev. His electoral victory has international supporters of Ukraine worried that any rushed agreement would mainly benefit Putin.