PRAGUE — Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday opened the door to allowing Ukraine to fire U.S.-provided weapons deeper into Russian territory, just a day after President Biden, in a major policy shift, okayed counterattacks aimed at limited Russian military targets across the border.
The top U.S. diplomat’s remarks reflected the growing risk tolerance of the United States and other European allies as they seek to support Ukraine in preventing Russian forces from seizing more territory and potentially advancing on the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv.
The United States and Germany had been among the most resistant to strikes on Russian territory using weapons they had provided. They had long maintained that a prohibition was necessary to limit the chances of a direct conflict between Russia and NATO countries.
But on Friday, Berlin, too, said Ukraine could use German weapons to combat Russian cross-border attacks.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg cheered the shifts.
“I welcome that allies are easing restrictions on the use of weapons,” he told reporters in Prague.
“Self-defense is not escalation. Self-defense is a fundamental right,” he said. “We have the right to help Ukraine.”
In recent weeks, Russia has unleashed a brutal new assault on Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region, reoccupying some towns and villages and bombing relentlessly. Ukrainian officials pleaded with their biggest Western backers to lift restrictions on how the weapons they had supplied could be used.
The Ukrainians complained that the restrictions effectively left their military fighting with one arm behind their backs, allowing Russia’s forces to advance and to inflict far higher casualties on Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.
Even with the restrictions in place, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials for months have insisted that Russia is fighting not only Ukraine but the United States and other NATO allies.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Friday that Biden’s decision merely provided the latest evidence that Russia’s assertions were correct.
“Attempts to strike Russian Federation with U.S. weapons demonstrate U.S. involvement in the conflict in Ukraine,” Peskov told journalists. “We know that, in general, American-made weapons are already being used to attempt strikes on Russian territory. We have had enough of this, and it is more than eloquent evidence of the extent of the United States’ involvement in this conflict.”
The policy change announced by the White House on Thursday grants Ukraine permission to use U.S.-provided artillery and rocket launchers to hit Russian troops and equipment just across the border from Kharkiv and to strike missiles headed toward Ukrainian territory, according to U.S. officials. They stressed that the Biden administration’s policy barring longer-range strikes inside Russia had not changed.
After the U.S. announcement, Germany followed suit, saying Ukrainian soldiers have the right to use German weapons to hit back. “In recent weeks, Russia has prepared, coordinated and carried out attacks, particularly in the Kharkiv area, from positions in the immediately adjacent Russian border area,” the German government said in a statement.
“Ukraine has the right under international law to defend itself against these attacks,” the statement continued. “To this end, [Ukraine] can also use the weapons supplied for this purpose in accordance with its international legal obligations, including those supplied by us.”
In recent months, dire conditions on the battlefield have pushed Ukraine’s supporters to consider options once deemed too escalatory.
In February, French President Emmanuel Macron surprised many by saying “no option should be discarded” in response to a question about sending Western troops to Ukraine.
In recent days, top Ukrainian officials have said they are in discussions with Paris about sending French military trainers, and that Macron may announce such plans when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits France on Thursday for a D-Day commemoration.
The Biden administration has long ruled out the idea of U.S. troops in Ukraine.
During their meetings in Prague, Stoltenberg and the foreign ministers discussed the upcoming NATO summit in Washington, where allies are expected to announce additional support for Ukraine, name a new secretary general and mark NATO’s 75th anniversary.
Stoltenberg has proposed $40 billion a year from allies for Ukraine, but offered few details about how that money would be sourced. Many analysts remain skeptical that NATO countries, including the United States, would be able to commit the money.
At the Washington summit in July, allies will also outline plans to bring Ukraine closer to membership — without actually offering membership itself. Blinken on Friday said the intent was to build Ukraine a “bridge to membership” that is “strong and well-lit.”
Kate Brady contributed to this report from Berlin.
