Biden allows Kyiv to launch long-range missile attacks on Russian territory

Ukraine has been asking for this for months. Now the American president is also giving in on this question: For the first time, Kiev should be allowed to use Atacms ballistic missiles supplied by the USA on targets in Russia. This was reported on Sunday by several American media outlets, citing government circles. The rockets will initially be used primarily to defend the border areas in the Russian Kursk region that have been conquered by the Ukrainians.

According to the Pentagon, North Korea has sent more than 10,000 troops to the region to help Russian forces in a counteroffensive to retake lost territory. In August, the Ukrainian army managed to conquer a border area of ​​several hundred square kilometers in a surprising advance. If peace negotiations take place soon, as future American President Donald Trump wants, the Kursk border strip could be an important bargaining chip for Kiev.

Last effort before Trump takes office

For a long time, Biden was reluctant to even supply Ukraine with Atacms. The ballistic missiles have a range of 300 kilometers. On the one hand, the American president feared that these weapons could tempt Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin to further escalate the war. On the other hand, the Biden administration pointed to the limited number of these missiles in the American arsenal and doubted their lasting impact on the battlefield.

It was only this spring that Biden allowed the delivery of Atacms to Ukraine. However, these were only allowed to be used on Ukrainian territory. In May, the American president gave the green light for the limited use of American weapons on targets in Russia in order to contain a Russian offensive across the border near Kharkiv. However, the Atacms were excluded from this.

Biden’s current change of heart appears to have two main reasons. On the one hand, it was a direct reaction to the presence of North Korean soldiers in Kursk, American government officials told the New York Times on Sunday. The decision is intended to be a deterrent signal to Pyongyang so that the North Koreans do not send more troops. Putin wanted to test the West and NATO with North Korean soldiers on European soil, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on the short message service increases.”

On the other hand, Biden seems to want to maneuver Ukraine into the best possible negotiating position shortly before the end of his term in office. Trump has promised to end the war “within 24 hours.” To do this, he would like to force both the Ukrainians and the Russians to the negotiating table. Trump himself has not yet clearly defined what peace should look like. But it should be “a good solution for both sides,” said the future American president. A plan being discussed around him aims to freeze the conflict along the current front line. The demilitarized demarcation line will then be secured by European peacekeepers.

Before Trump takes office on January 20th, the Biden administration is currently trying to send as many weapons as possible to Ukraine. According to Politico, there is still over $6 billion left in the military aid approved by Congress. “Every dollar we have available will be spent,” said American Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Brussels last week. The problem, however, is that it can take months from the time a weapons shipment is approved until it actually arrives in Ukraine. Trump could easily stop the planned deliveries in January.

Symptomatic of Biden’s hesitation

Biden’s current decision is symptomatic of his hesitant behavior throughout the war. Almost from the start, the Ukrainians demanded multiple rocket launchers, tanks, fighter jets, Patriot anti-aircraft systems or ATACMs. Out of fear of a Russian escalation – in the worst case scenario through the use of a nuclear bomb – Biden usually waited many months before finally getting around to making a delivery. However, the number of weapons delivered was often barely enough to decisively turn the tide on the battlefield for the Ukrainians. In addition, the more powerful systems could have had a greater impact on the course of the war if the Ukrainians had had them available more quickly.

In September, Putin also described the use of Atacms against targets in Russia as a red line. This would fundamentally change the conflict, warned the Russian autocrat. “That means that NATO countries, the USA and European countries are fighting against Russia.” It can be assumed that Washington will help Ukraine select targets for ballistic missiles and provide the necessary data for this. A little later, in September, Putin announced a relaxation of Russian nuclear doctrine in the event of an attack on Russia.

Putin has used such nuclear threats very effectively since the beginning of the war, while continuing and escalating his own aggression. Although the West slowly delivered more and more weapons systems and crossed Putin’s red lines, the Kremlin leader has so far only made threats. Now, in view of the North Korean soldiers in Europe, Biden was forced to disregard this red line. Although calls for dialogue with Moscow are growing louder in the West, this does not seem to appease Putin. On the contrary: Since Trump’s election victory, Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities have increased massively again.

According to information from the Washington Post, Trump spoke to Putin on the phone after his election victory last week. He expressed his desire for peace negotiations and warned the Russian President against escalating the war. The “Post” based its report on several people from Trump’s environment. The Kremlin, however, maintains that the call never took place.

However, the phone call between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Putin on Friday has been confirmed. He also demanded that the Russian dictator be willing to negotiate. Moscow then launched a massive attack on the Ukrainian energy system on Sunday at the start of winter.