Washington allows Ukraine to strike inside Russia with US weapons | NHK WORLD-JAPAN News

Leaders in the United States are taking a major policy shift in their support for Ukraine. They say the weapons they supply can now be used for limited strikes inside Russian territory.

Russian troops are intensifying their invasion, especially in the eastern region of Kharkiv.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that President Joe Biden has approved the use of American weapons against Russian forces “massing on the Russian side of the border.”

Another US official says Washington’s policy of prohibiting long-range strikes in Russia has not changed.

Germany is taking a similar step. A government spokesperson said on Friday that Ukraine can use weapons supplied by Berlin to defend itself against attacks “under international law”.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed bilateral security agreements on Friday with Sweden, Norway and Iceland.

Speaking in Stockholm, he said using Western-supplied weapons on Russian territory is “a question of time.”