Blinken on Ukraine's right to strike at Russia: ‘The US will adapt and adjust its arms support’

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on 29 May that Washington would ‘adapt and adjust as necessary’ its ban on allowing Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with US-supplied weapons.

Source. This was reported by kyivindependent.com.

The restrictions do not allow Kyiv to fully repel the Russian offensive, which began earlier in May, with the help of modern US weapons such as ATACMS missiles.

In recent days, the number of Ukraine's allies on this issue has been growing, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that Ukraine should be allowed to launch strikes against the crops, increasing pressure on Washington to grant such permission.

More recently, on 29 May, representatives of Finland, Canada and Poland made separate statements that Ukraine could use their weapons to strike targets in Russia.

Speaking during a visit to Moldova ahead of the NATO talks in Prague, Blinken said that as conditions on the battlefield have changed, the US has ‘adapted and adjusted’ the support and weapons it has provided.

Asked whether this meant the US would change its policy on strikes against targets in Russia, he said:

‘At every step along the way, we've adapted and adjusted as needed. And that is exactly what we will continue to do. We are always listening, we are always learning, and we are always making decisions about what is necessary for Ukraine to effectively continue to defend itself,’ he stressed.

Earlier this month, The New York Times reported that Blinken called on the Biden administration to change policy after a ‘sobering’ visit to Kyiv.

The U.S. State Department began a ‘lively debate’ within President Joe Biden's administration over the policy after Blinken's two-day visit to the Ukrainian capital, which came just days after Russia launched a new offensive. It was the situation in the Kharkiv region that changed Blinken's position, the NYT writes.

The newspaper noted that the proposal is still ‘in its infancy’ and that it is unclear how many other senior White House officials will support it.

According to the newspaper, the plan would include permission to strike Russian military targets, but possibly not oil refineries and other infrastructure, which Ukraine has been targeting with its own drones.

Background. On the same day, John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator at the White House National Security Council, said at a briefing that the United States opposes the use of weapons supplied to Ukraine to strike targets in Russia: ‘Nothing has changed in our policy, he said.’