Biden gives Ukraine the go-ahead to use US weapons against Russia

Biden gives Ukraine the go-ahead to use US weapons against Russia

the Russians have kind of been pre- responding in a way they they’ve basically been saying look any step that involves more use of American provided weapons or Western provided weapons to strike inside Russia as an escalation then remember we Russia are a nuclear power and we could uh you know really escalate this situation I think the Biden Administration has taken the calculation here uh two calculations one is every time the Administration has relaxed its restrictions namely allowing longrange missiles uh to be used by Ukraine the Russians didn’t really escalate they’ve in fact escalated as much as they can outside of the nuclear Zone which of course you don’t want to Discount uh but then number two is that the Russians also don’t necessarily want to escalate um so much and that this because this is limited at least Washington can say look Moscow we’re not calling on the ukrainians to strike in the whole of your country we’re just allowing them to help protect the city that you have just uh attacked in a major way news from the US this evening President Joe Biden has partially lifted a ban on Ukraine using American weapons in strikes on Russian territory that is according to us officials the change in American policies understood to apply uh only to defend the area of har let’s get more on this with Alex Ward he’s National Security reporter at Politico evening Alex yes hi how how significant is this policy change it’s a marked escalation is it it’s it’s a bit of a change I mean it’s it’s an important one right it’s important in the sense that now the Ukraine can use us provided Weaponry to protect itself in the kke region that includes shooting down Russian missiles attacking the Russians over the Border inside of Russia you know whether that’s troop positions or maybe a missile launch so that’s to better defend Ukraine’s second largest city it does not allow the use of American provided weapons to be used elsewhere in Russia long range strikes and anything like that so it’s not necessarily like Ukraine can now use American provided weapons to hit anywhere it wants in Russia it can really only use them as of this point uh to protect carar okay I think some people might have thought that that was the case anyway I suppose that this wouldn’t be a kind of a step away from the unusual why why why was the previous policy in place well the Biden Administration did not want to effectively have the USB deeper into the war Ukraine could always use American provided weapons to protect itself inside of Ukrainian territory yeah that was always true the difference now is that Ukraine can use those weapons to strike inside a sovereign Russian land so that is the the big difference here and that comes after you know the David Cameron foreign minister in the UK French president Emanuel macron NATO’s Secretary General Yen Stenberg and others have been signaling these restrictions on Western weapons should be lifted so so Biden is now you know following uh that Trend but in a fairly limited way okay and in terms of what’s happening in the harke region um we know that Russian forces have been um launching an assault um in that area and uh you know trying to um trying to make inroads there small gains have been made and this will be crucial really uh in trying to deter any further gains yeah that that is somewhat the the idea here I mean that I think if the Russians were not doing so well in harke maybe this decision would not have been taken by President Biden but I the administration constantly says that they assess and they adjust right I believe as Secretary of State Anthony blinkin statement just yesterday on Wednesday was we adapt and we adjust based on conditions on the ground with the Russians advancing uh then it made no sense I think to the Biden Administration to keep that restriction in place again it remains limited but it it’s an advancement and it is a step toward allowing Ukraine to perhaps eventually be able to use us provided weapons in in other parts of Russia that will be sort of the next step and if there’s one thing we know about the bid Ministry ation is they say they can’t do something then either allies change their minds or conditions change on the ground in Ukraine and then they say it is possible so uh I think we’ve now moving in that direction who knows if and when we get there but I would wager on it do you think that there’ll be a a response from Russia at all Alex on this well the Russians have kind of been pre- responding in a way they’ve basically been saying look any step that involves more use of American provided weapons or Western provided weapons to strike ins Russia is an escalation then remember we Russia are a nuclear power and we could uh you know really escalate this situation I think the Biden Administration has taken the calculation here uh made two calculations one is every time the Administration has relax its restrictions namely allowing long range missiles uh to be used by Ukraine the Russians didn’t really escalate they’ve in fact escalated as much as they can outside of the nuclear Zone which of course you don’t want to Discount uh but then number two is that the Russians also don’t necessarily want to escalate um so much and that this because this is limited at least Washington can say look Moscow we’re not calling on the ukrainians to strike in the whole of your country we’re just allowing them to help protect the city that you have just uh attacked in a major way lovely look Alex thank you so much for being with us and just explaining that breaking line that Joe Biden’s partially lifted a ban on Ukraine using American Russ weapons in strikes on Russian territory This concerns the area of hke Alex W National Security reporter at Politico thank you [Music] [Music] good evening sir enj even [Music] hello all right hello [Music] many e

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