A group of officials has emerged in the US top leadership to lobby for the lifting of the ban on the use of US weapons to strike Russian territory, which has long been requested by Ukraine's leadership.
Source. This was reported by The New York Times.
According to the publication, the State Department initiated these discussions. In particular, the proposal to lift the ban is included in a report prepared by Secretary of State Anthony Blinken following his recent visit to Kyiv.
The NYT writes, according to officials involved in the discussion, that Blinken's position, which previously supported the ban, has changed as Russia has opened a new front.
Russian weapons are deployed right next to the border in northeastern Ukraine on its Russian side and are aimed at Kharkiv, while the Ukrainian Armed Forces cannot use American weapons against them.
The publication notes that pressure has recently increased on the Biden administration to allow Kyiv to use US-supplied weapons, if not to attack Russian refineries, then at least to strike military facilities in Russia.
The day before, on 22 May, the chairman of the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Michael McCaul, called on the White House to lift the ban on the use of US weapons to strike targets in Russia. At the hearing with Blinken, McCaul said that Russia has deployed artillery, missile units and other troops along the border with Ukraine and is striking at Ukrainian territory, and Ukraine cannot respond fully due to the restrictions imposed on it.
At a press conference held in Kyiv on 15 May, Blinken was asked whether the White House was planning to lift the ban, and the secretary of state evasively replied that Washington "does not encourage" strikes against Russia, but that Ukraine itself makes decisions "about how it is going to fight this war."
Background. Earlier it was reported that the Pentagon did not grant Ukraine permission to use US weapons in Russia, despite the attack on Kharkiv.