Blinken: Ukraine Can Use US Weapons in Russia

President Joe Biden approved Ukraine to use U.S. weapons to strike targets in Russia that were attacking the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, after Kyiv sought authorization from Washington in recent weeks, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday.

Blinken, speaking at a news conference in Prague after an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers, did not specifically say if Biden's authorization could expand to include other Russian cities and targets that are deeper inside Russia.

Blinken said Washington's move, a marked change in policy by Biden, who had steadfastly refused to allow Ukraine to use American weaponry for strikes in Russia, was a result of U.S. strategy of adjusting and adapting to the battleground. Now, he said, the U.S. is responding to what it has seen in and around the Kharkiv region.

"Over the past few weeks, Ukraine came to us and asked for the authorization to use weapons that we're providing to defend against this aggression, including against Russian forces that are massing on the Russian side of the border and then attacking into Ukraine," Blinken said. "And that went right to the President and, as you've heard, he's approved use of our weapons for that purpose.

"Going forward, we'll continue to do what we've been doing, which is as necessary adapt and adjust."

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, is 19 miles from the border with Russia.

It's the second time this year that Biden has quietly relaxed his policy on weapons supplies for Ukraine. Earlier this year, he bent to calls to send long-range missiles known as ATACMS to Kyiv.

The U.S. is the biggest supplier of weapons to Ukraine in its battle against the full-scale invasion launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022.

U.S officials said Thursday that U.S. policy would continue to prohibit the Ukrainian military from using ATACMS, which have a range of up to 186 miles, and other long-range U.S.-supplied weapons for deep strikes inside Russia.