Blinken's aide confirms U.S. authorization to strike long-range weapons at Russia 19 November 2024

U.S. President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use long-range weapons to strike targets in Russia. This was stated by Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols, UNN reports with reference to O Globo.

Asked whether allowing the US to use long-range US-made missiles in Ukraine could lead to an even greater escalation of the war, Nichols replied:

"We must remember that the war began with Russia's new unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The conflict in Ukraine can end right now if Russia withdraws its troops from Ukraine and respects Ukraine's borders. It has always been that way. The weapons that President Biden has authorized Ukraine to use will give Ukraine a greater ability to defend itself and hopefully allow the Russian Federation to understand that the use of force to seize Ukrainian territory will not succeed.

 He also said that the United States hopes that this will help Russia to start peace talks or, even better, simply withdraw from Ukrainian territory.

"They are the ones who have full control over whether this conflict will continue or not," he said.

Addendum

The New York Times reports that U.S. President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use long-range missiles to strike Russian territory.

According to U.S. officials, the weapons are likely to be used initially against Russian and North Korean troops to protect Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region of western Russia.

Le Figaro reported that France and Britain authorized Ukraine to strike Russia with SCALP/Storm Shadow missiles.

However, Le Figaro later removed from the article the line that France and the United Kingdom had authorized missiles to be fired at Russia.

Ukraine is already preparing first strikes with US ATACMS - Reuters17.11.24, 20:37 • 42464 views