Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy's team asked the White House to help identify targets in Russia that Kyiv could strike with its own weapons, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Ukraine needs urgent support to strike behind enemy lines and deter the Russian offensive
In addition, Kyiv also asks the US to lift the restrictions on the use of the provided American weapons at military facilities on the territory of the Russian Federation.
The Ukrainian authorities are asking the US to give permission at a time when the Russian army managed to achieve the largest territorial gains in Ukraine in almost 18 months — it is about the enemy's attack on the Kharkiv region.
Insiders of the publication claim that the request of Zelenskyy's team has already begun to be considered in the White House.
If official Washington makes a positive decision, it could mean a serious change in the policy of the Joe Biden administration regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war.
They (Ukraine — ed.) really asked (USA — ed.) for help to strike at Russia. This was not about a specific weapon system, but about additional help in striking the Russians, said US Air Force General CK Brown.
US may still fear Putin's reaction
The WSJ points out that the United States handed over surface-to-surface missile systems and other ATACMS weapon systems to Kyiv on the condition that they would not be used to strike targets on Russian territory.
Zelenskyi's team had to agree to this condition because Washington wanted to reduce the risk of the Russian-Ukrainian war turning into a direct confrontation between the US and Russia.
Two years ago, the Kremlin publicly declared that the US would "cross the red line" and be considered "the direct side of the conflict" in the eyes of Moscow, if it provided Ukraine with longer-range missiles.
Since then, however, Russia has turned to North Korea for ballistic missiles and Iran for drones, and has used these weapons to bolster attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Therefore, the USA decided to partially change its position regarding the provision of weapons to Kyiv, so that it could defend itself against the enemy more actively.
