US President Joe Biden stood firm on the restrictions his administration has placed on the Ukrainian army's use of American weapons to strike military targets inside Russia.
Speaking at a press conference following this week’s NATO summit in Washington DC, Biden stated that lifting the restrictions “wouldn’t make sense.”
He explained that allowing Kyiv to attack Moscow would be unwise and that the US evaluates how far inside Russia Ukraine should be allowed to strike “on a day-to-day basis.”
Background
In May, the US permitted Ukraine to use American-supplied weapons to strike military targets inside Russia after a renewed Russian offensive in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region.
In June, however, the US limited these strikes to targets within 100 kilometers of Ukraine’s border with Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned in June that Russia would consider supplying weapons to its allies for potential strikes on NATO countries if NATO leaders allowed Ukraine to attack targets on Russian territory.
Biden's Stance on Putin
Biden made headlines by accidentally introducing Ukrainian President Zelensky as “President Putin.” He quickly corrected himself and joked about the mistake.
Biden then stated that he saw “no good reason” to hold talks with Putin unless the Russian leader was “ready to change his behavior.”
While open to speaking with Putin if he “called me and wanted to talk,” Biden warned that if Russia’s invasion succeeded, Putin wouldn’t “stop at Ukraine."
Calls for Lifting Limitations
At a joint press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Zelensky urged Kyiv’s partners to “lift all the limitations” on Ukraine striking targets inside Russia.
Stoltenberg supported this, saying there was “no doubt” Ukraine had the right to use both its own and Western-supplied weapons “to hit legitimate military targets on Russian territory” as part of its self-defense.
