State Department mum on reported Ukraine policy change

U.S. State Department Spokesman Matt Miller on Monday afternoon said he had no updates in policy to report in regard to the Ukraine-Russia war. He added he could not speak to, or confirm, reports that President Biden gave Ukraine permission to use U.S.-supplied, long-range missiles against targets inside Russia.

How has Russia responded to the reports? Meanwhile, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday said it was unclear whether Biden had actually approved the use of American missiles against targets in Russia’s borders. But spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that if Biden had approved that use for the missiles, it would represent a significant escalation in NATO’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war.

In his Monday press briefing, Miller countered that it was Russia who has repeatedly escalated the conflict, most recently by deploying North Korean troops near the front lines in Kursk.

Why would this be a significant NATO escalation? Russian President Vladimir Putin said in September that Ukraine could not effectively target locations inside Russia without using NATO satellites. If Ukrainian forces began successfully hitting targets inside Russia with long-range missile strikes, it would mean that NATO was helping those missiles find their targets, Putin claimed.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about how Russia says Ukrainian forces have already been using drones to attack targets in the Moscow area.