Biden 'fueling' tensions by authorizing Ukraine to use US weapons in Russia: Kremlin
The Kremlin has censured US President Joe Biden over his decision to allow Ukrainian forces to strike targets inside Russia.
Moscow criticized the outgoing Biden administration on Monday, saying it wanted to escalate the West's proxy war in Ukraine to direct conflict with Russia by allowing Kiev to use long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia.
“It is clear that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps to continue to add fuel to the fire and to further inflame tensions around this conflict,” Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on Monday.
For months Ukrainian officials had asked Washington for permission to use the powerful Army Tactical Missile System, known by its initials ATACMS, to strike targets inside Russia.
According to several US outlets reporting on Sunday, the outgoing Biden administration has now given the green light to Kiev to conduct strikes with US-made weapons on targets deep inside Russian territory.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Peskov said, has warned the West that letting Kiev use longer-range weapons to strike Russian targets would mean NATO would be directly “at war” with Moscow.
In this regard, a Russian lawmaker said by allowing the Kiev forces to strike targets deep inside Russia the Biden administration was risking a third World War. Maria Butina expressed hope that the incoming US leader would reverse the decision.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said last week the Ukraine war will end “sooner” with the arrival of US President-elect Donald Trump in the White House.
Trump, who has promised to end the Ukraine war by ceding territory to Russia, is scheduled to take office in January.
Before that, Zelensky had criticized German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for having a phone conversation with Putin, saying the talks between the two leaders had opened a “Pandora’s box”.
During the phone call on Friday, Scholz and Putin had discussed bilateral relations between Moscow and Berlin, the war in Ukraine, and the issues in West Asia. The two had had their last phone call almost two years ago.
Ukrainian media, citing an undisclosed Presidential Office source, said Zelensky criticized Scholz over the move, describing the call to Putin as opening a “Pandora’s box”.
Zelensky claimed the German leader’s phone call to his Russian counterpart will only make Putin feel less isolated.
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