Kremlin Responds To Joe Biden’s Authorization of ATACMS Missile Strikes

The Kremlin has responded to Joe Biden’s alleged authorization for Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weapons to launch strikes against Russian territory.
Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, said that such a decision would escalate tensions and deepen U.S. involvement in the war.
“It’s obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps in order to continue fueling the fire and provoking further escalation of tensions,” he told the radio station Mayak.
“If such a decision was really formulated and announced to the Kyiv regime, then of course it’s a qualitatively new spiral of tensions and a qualitatively new situation from the point of view of the US’s engagement in the conflict.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky responded to the alleged U.S. authorization on Sunday, saying: “Today, there’s a lot of talk in the media about us receiving permission for respective actions… But strikes are not carried out with words. Such things are not announced. Missiles will speak for themselves.”
Ukraine has for months sought U.S. approval to carry out long-range strikes inside Russian territory, but the White House previously resisted citing concerns over escalating the conflict.
Last month, Putin said that allowing Western long-range missiles to be used against Russia would mean “direct NATO involvement in the war.”
But since then, Putin’s forces in the Kursk region, where Ukraine launched an incursion in August, have been bolstered by thousands of North Korean troops.
This may have shifted the calculus in Washington, with the New York Times reporting that ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) rockets are likely to be used against Russia’s military operation in the region.
Newsweek has contacted the White House and the Ukrainian foreign ministry for comment.
Unnamed U.S. officials told the New York Times that they did not expect the decision to alter the course of the war, but that it would send a message to Pyongyang that its forces are vulnerable and that they should refrain from sending any more.
Washington’s shift in stance could also lead to European allies following suit. Britain and France have so far held back from authorizing Ukraine to fire Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles against Russian territory.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said last week that following talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, both allies wanted to put Kyiv in “the strongest possible position going into the winter.”