WASHINGTON, July 12. /TASS/. The US government decides on a daily basis how deep into the Russian territory Kiev should be allowed to strike with US weapons, US President Joe Biden said.
Biden said that in this regard he is "following the advice" of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Charles Brown, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and intelligence services.
"I’m following the advice of <…> the chief of staff of the military, as well as the secretary of defense, and our intelligence people. And we are making a day-to-day basis on <…> how far they [the Ukrainian military] should go in. That’s a logical thing to do," the US leader added.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed on May 31 that US President Joe Biden had authorized the use of American weapons for attacks on Russian territory. According to the top US diplomat, they can only be used to attack Russian regions near Kharkov. Blinken didn’t rule out the possibility of expanding the range in the future. US National Security Council (NSC) Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told a briefing on July 8 that the US position on the issue remains unchanged.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on May 28 that the selection of targets and flight assignments for modern strike systems are made remotely or automatically, "without the presence of Ukrainian servicemen." This is done by those who produce and supply these systems to Ukraine, he pointed out. Putin warned that NATO countries should "realize what they are playing with." Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev emphasized on May 31 that all long-range weapons delivered to Ukraine are already "directly controlled by NATO servicemen" and that such actions could be a pretext for retaliatory strikes.