WASHINGTON, November 21. /TASS/. US President Joe Biden’s move to authorize the use of ATACMS missiles for attacks inside Russia stems from malice rather than strategy, Sumantra Maitra, senior editor at The American Conservative magazine, said.
"The Biden administration’s decision <...> seemed to be one borne out of malice rather than strategy. An intention to box the incoming president [Donald Trump] to an escalatory path, although neither the theater nor the threat assessment changed in the past few months," he pointed out.
According to Maitra, Washington’s move will not improve Kiev’s situation. He also stressed that "the responsibility for this conflict falls squarely on those who ignored Russia’s redlines about Ukraine joining NATO."
The New York Times reported on November 17, citing sources, that Biden had authorized the use of US-supplied ATACMS missiles to launch attacks inside Russia from Ukraine. Meanwhile, the US administration has not made any official statements to either confirm or deny these reports. Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell, in turn, said that some European Union countries had also allowed Ukraine to use their weapons for strikes deep inside Russia. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned on November 19 that Moscow’s revised nuclear doctrine provided for a nuclear response to the use of Western non-nuclear missiles against Russia. Earlier, Peskov noted that Western countries’ decision indicated "a qualitatively new phase" of tensions.