U.S. considers allowing Ukraine to strike targets inside Russian territory with American weapons in major shift in the war

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has suggested the United States is contemplating allowing Ukraine to use American-supplied weapons to directly strike Russian territory, given the changing dynamics on the battlefield in Ukraine. 

It's the first time a senior Biden administration official has indicated there could be a potential shift in policy. 

Until now, the U.S. had prohibited Ukraine from using U.S. weapons, like ATACMS missiles, to target Russian territory. 

But Blinken's comments align with recent statements from European officials who support Ukraine using Western weapons against Russian sites used for the invasion.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has suggested the United States is contemplating allowing Ukraine to use American-supplied weapons to directly strike Russian territory

More than two years into the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two, Western allies are debating how to stop Russian military advances while Putin is increasingly evoking the risk of a global war. Pictured, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky on a trip to Portugal this week

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also suggested this week that the 'time has come to consider whether it will be right to lift some of the restrictions.' 

'If they cannot attack military targets on Russian territory, then it ties one hand of the Ukrainians on their back and makes it very hard for them to conduct defense,' Stoltenberg said at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Blinken chose his words carefully during a meeting with with Moldova's president and was keen to make clear the U.S. neither encouraged nor enabled strikes on Russian territory. 

He said  Ukraine 'has to make its own decisions about the best way to effectively defend itself. We're going to make sure that it has the equipment it needs to do that.'

'Another hallmark of our support for Ukraine over these, now, more than two years has been to adapt as conditions have changed and the battlefield has changed, as what Russia does has changed in terms of how it's pursuing its aggression and escalation,' Blinken said. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, seen here with kraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has also indicated it might be time for a change in policy

Ukrainian soldiers hold a national flag over the coffin of Ukrainian serviceman Ruslan Troianchuk, callsigned "Friend", who was killed in the Donetsk region

Ukrainian firefighters with Magirus Wolf C1 tactical robot carry out extinguishing efforts at the site of Russian aerial attack on the private residential area of the city of Oleksievo-Druzhkivka

'We've adapted and adjusted, too, and I'm confident we'll continue to do that.'

Officials within the Biden administration have said that a shift in policy is being considered but that a decision has not yet been made.

'We do not encourage nor do we enable attacks using U.S. weapons on Russian soil,' National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. 

'Our support to Ukraine has evolved appropriately as the battlefield conditions have evolved, and that's not going to change, but right now, there's also no change to our policy.'

Russia's foreign ministry had warned in September 2022 that should the U.S. become involved it would 'cross a red line' and be considered a 'direct party to the conflict' in the eyes of the Kremlin if it started supplying longer-range missiles to Kyiv. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of the threat of a global conflict if Kyiv's Western allies allow it to use weapons they have supplied to strike inside Russia, something Ukraine's government is urging its partners to permit.

The U.S., which is Kyiv's most important supplier of weaponry, passed a $61 billion aid package in April following months of delay that exacerbated shortages of artillery shells.

Ukrainian soldiers carry the coffin of Ukrainian serviceman who was killed in the Donetsk region

Military investigators work on the site of the damaged building housing the Paradise restaurant following a strike in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, earlier this month

Western allies are debating how to stop Russian military advances while Russian President Vladimir Putin is increasingly evoking the risk of a global war

Blinken said the U.S. weapons supplies were now having a 'real effect' and that Putin had not been able to achieve his goals in the Kharkiv area in northeastern Ukraine where Russian forces launched an offensive this month, opening a new front.

'On the contrary, I think what we see, again, stabilization of the front and a failure in terms of Putin's objectives,' he said.

Blinken will travel to Prague on Wednesday to attend an informal gathering of NATO foreign ministers, which will focus on advancing preparations ahead of a July summit of the alliance in Washington.

The U.S. has been working with European allies to help Ukraine build its long-term force, efforts that would bring Kyiv closer to NATO.

Individual members including the U.S. are working to reach bilateral agreements with Ukraine.

More than two years into the deadliest war in Europe since World War Two, Western allies are debating how to stop Russian military advances while Putin is increasingly evoking the risk of a global war.