Top Russian lawmakers have warned that President Biden has taken a “very big step” toward starting World War III by giving Ukraine permission to deploy long-range, U.S.-made missiles to attack targets deep inside Russia.
Ukraine has already said it plans to take advantage of the change in policy within days after it was reported on Sunday that Biden had lifted the missile embargo – in a major reversal of Washington's policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
“This is a very big step towards the beginning of World War III,” said Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy chairman of the Russian Senate’s International Affairs Committee, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.
Other Russian officials also warned that the move would trigger an immediate backlash.
“The West has decided on such a level of escalation that could end with the complete destruction of the Ukrainian state by the morning,” Andrei Klishas, a senior member of the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, said via the messaging app Telegram.
The apparent decision comes just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, and after months of appeals from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow the Ukrainian army to use US-supplied weapons to strike Russian military targets far from its borders.
The White House declined to comment on the move, which was first reported by The New York Times.
There was no immediate response from the Kremlin either, which previously warned it would see a move to ease restrictions on Ukraine's use of US weapons as a major escalation in the ongoing conflict.
Meanwhile, Zelensky appeared to confirm the news in his evening speech, saying the missiles would “speak for themselves.”
“Today, many in the media are saying that we have been given permission to take appropriate measures,” he said.
“But strikes are not made with words. Such things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves. They certainly will.”
Multiple sources told Reuters that the first deep strikes on Ukraine would likely be carried out using ATACMS missiles with a range of up to 190 miles.
While some US officials expressed doubts that allowing long-range strikes would change the course of the war, the decision could help Ukraine at a time when Russian forces are making steady gains.
It was not immediately clear whether Trump – who pledged to end the war as soon as he took office in January – would reverse Biden's decision.
“As President Trump said during his campaign, he is the only person who can bring the two sides together to negotiate peace, work to end the war and stop the killing,” Stephen Cheung, Trump’s communications director, told The Washington Post on Sunday. .
“Only official statements on this topic will come directly from President Trump or his spokespersons.”
With mail wires
