Biden’s change on Ukraine missiles informed by North Korean troops in Kursk, Trump’s election victory

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden dropped his opposition to Ukraine firing US missiles at targets deep in Russia in response to North Korea’s entry into the war, a shift in US policy that has become more urgent since Donald Trump’s election win of November 5, sources familiar with said matter.

Mr Biden has for months resisted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s pleas to reduce the limits on the use of US-supplied ATACMS missiles, which can reach far into Russian territory, fearing that it would draw NATO into a conflict with a nuclear power.

But Moscow’s decision to sends North Korean soldiers to Russia’s Kursk region represented a major escalation that demanded a response, a senior US official and two other sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Trump’s election — who is deeply skeptical of U.S. support for Ukraine — added to pressure on the administration to relax rules on the use of weapons and take other steps to support Ukraine as it suffers repeated setbacks on the battlefield, two other sources said familiar with the matter. .

The decision could help “Trump secure” parts of Biden’s Ukraine agenda by strengthening Ukraine’s position if it loses US support, one of the sources said.

Trump has repeatedly criticized US military aid to Ukraine, sparking fears that he could suspend arms deliveries.

The easing of US arms restrictions may have come too late to change the course of the conflict, but it could help Ukraine defend its Kursk stronghold.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A State Department spokesman declined to say whether Biden had authorized the longer-range strikes, but said Russia was escalating the conflict by deploying North Korean troops.

Moscow has vowed to respond to what it sees as an escalation by the West. A US official said on November 21 that Russia may have fired an intermediate-range ballistic missile during an attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, in a likely warning to NATO.

Strengthening the hand of Kiev

The easing of American conditions was conveyed to Ukraine during a Nov. 12 call between Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, a source familiar with the discussions said.

A day later, Secretary of State Antony Blinken briefed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European officials on the decision, as well as his Ukrainian counterpart, Mr Andrii Sybiha, during a trip to Brussels, a senior US official said.