The Kremlin has issued an initial response to widespread reports in US media saying that the Biden administration will now allow Ukraine to target Russia with US-supplied long-range missiles. Kremlin top spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that this would unleash a "significant new round of escalation" in the war if it proves true, but he also cautioned that Moscow authorities had yet to see official confirmation directly from the White House.
"If such a decision has indeed been formulated and communicated to the Kyiv regime, it marks a significant escalation and a fundamentally new stage in terms of U.S. involvement in this conflict," Peskov said.
The reports center on Biden giving the greenlight for Kiev forces to deploy the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) against targets deep in Russian territory.
Peskov further reiterated that the question of Western-backed long-range strikes was "articulated extremely clearly and unambiguously" by President Vladimir Putin earlier this year.
Putin had laid out in September that it would change the very nature of the conflict, and that "it would mean that NATO countries, the US, European countries, are at war with Russia."
Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky has appeared to confirm the new authorization from Washington. He said that proof will ultimately emerge on the battlefield.
"Today, there’s a lot of talk in the media about us receiving permission for respective actions. But strikes are not carried out with words. Such things are not announced. Missiles will speak for themselves. They certainly will," Zelensky said.
He further emphasized that the "long-range capabilities for our army" is a central part of his "Victory Plan" for winning the war, though many analysts, even some who are ardently pro-Kiev, see this new greenlight as too little, too late - and as having no real ground impact on the war (only risking runaway escalation with the West). Reuters has also said, based on Ukrainian sources, that striking Russia with long-range missiles is likely to happen soon, consistent with Zelensky's fresh remarks.
According to more reaction from Moscow:
"The west has decided on such a level of escalation that it could end with the Ukrainian statehood in complete ruins by morning," Andrei Klishas, a senior member of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Russian upper house’s international affairs committee, was quoted by Tass news agency as saying: "This is a very big step towards the start of world war three."
And a popular Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, had this to say: "The madmen who are drawing NATO into a direct conflict with our country may soon be in great pain."
The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives.
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 17, 2024
Gotta lock in those $Trillions.
Life be damned!!! Imbeciles! https://t.co/ZzfwnhBxRh
Some US political figures reacted in similar horror and alarm, also warning of the risks for the outbreak of World War 3 with such a decision. Donald Trump Jr. sees this as an ultra-dangerous ploy by the lame-duck Biden administration to escalate the war just prior to Trump taking office.
"The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives," he said on X Sunday, immediately after reports of the serious policy shift emerged.
And House Representative Thomas Massie has ripped Biden for once again circumventing Congress on matters of war, calling the decision an "unconstitutional Act of War that endangers the lives of all US citizens."
By authorizing long range missiles to strike inside Russia, Biden is committing an unconstitutional Act of War that endangers the lives of all U.S. citizens. This is an impeachable offense, but the reality is he’s an emasculated puppet of a deep state.
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) November 18, 2024
https://t.co/5XDi0E16q1
But there may be hope that the Kremlin will plays things coolly and calmly, counting down the just over two month clock until Trump enters the Oval Office. CNN has cited a Russian political analyst who predicts just that scenario:
The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump may complicate the Kremlin’s reaction to President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to strike targets deep inside Russia with US-made weapons, Alexey Naumov, a Russian political analyst, told CNN.
Although Russian officials have stressed that such a decision would mark a major escalation that would be met with a severe response, Naumov said there would “definitely” be a reaction from the Kremlin, “but I do not expect it to be a full-scale escalation.”
Naumov emphasized in the interview from Moscsow, "The Kremlin will give Donald Trump some time to maybe reevaluate this policy, readjust it."
The Kremlin has issued an initial response to widespread reports in US media saying that the Biden administration will now allow Ukraine to target Russia with US-supplied long-range missiles. Kremlin top spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that this would unleash a “significant new round of escalation” in the war if it proves true, but he also cautioned that Moscow authorities had yet to see official confirmation directly from the White House.
“If such a decision has indeed been formulated and communicated to the Kyiv regime, it marks a significant escalation and a fundamentally new stage in terms of U.S. involvement in this conflict,” Peskov said.
The reports center on Biden giving the greenlight for Kiev forces to deploy the Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) against targets deep in Russian territory.
Peskov further reiterated that the question of Western-backed long-range strikes was “articulated extremely clearly and unambiguously” by President Vladimir Putin earlier this year.
Putin had laid out in September that it would change the very nature of the conflict, and that “it would mean that NATO countries, the US, European countries, are at war with Russia.”
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky has appeared to confirm the new authorization from Washington. He said that proof will ultimately emerge on the battlefield.
“Today, there’s a lot of talk in the media about us receiving permission for respective actions. But strikes are not carried out with words. Such things are not announced. Missiles will speak for themselves. They certainly will,” Zelensky said.
He further emphasized that the “long-range capabilities for our army” is a central part of his “Victory Plan” for winning the war, though many analysts, even some who are ardently pro-Kiev, see this new greenlight as too little, too late – and as having no real ground impact on the war (only risking runaway escalation with the West). Reuters has also said, based on Ukrainian sources, that striking Russia with long-range missiles is likely to happen soon, consistent with Zelensky’s fresh remarks.
According to more reaction from Moscow:
“The west has decided on such a level of escalation that it could end with the Ukrainian statehood in complete ruins by morning,” Andrei Klishas, a senior member of the Federation Council, Russia’s upper chamber of parliament, said on the Telegram messaging app.
Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Russian upper house’s international affairs committee, was quoted by Tass news agency as saying: “This is a very big step towards the start of world war three.”
And a popular Russian newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta, had this to say: “The madmen who are drawing NATO into a direct conflict with our country may soon be in great pain.”
The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives.
Gotta lock in those $Trillions.
Life be damned!!! Imbeciles! https://t.co/ZzfwnhBxRh— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) November 17, 2024
Some US political figures reacted in similar horror and alarm, also warning of the risks for the outbreak of World War 3 with such a decision. Donald Trump Jr. sees this as an ultra-dangerous ploy by the lame-duck Biden administration to escalate the war just prior to Trump taking office.
“The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives,” he said on X Sunday, immediately after reports of the serious policy shift emerged.
And House Representative Thomas Massie has ripped Biden for once again circumventing Congress on matters of war, calling the decision an “unconstitutional Act of War that endangers the lives of all US citizens.”
By authorizing long range missiles to strike inside Russia, Biden is committing an unconstitutional Act of War that endangers the lives of all U.S. citizens. This is an impeachable offense, but the reality is he’s an emasculated puppet of a deep state.
https://t.co/5XDi0E16q1— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) November 18, 2024
But there may be hope that the Kremlin will plays things coolly and calmly, counting down the just over two month clock until Trump enters the Oval Office. CNN has cited a Russian political analyst who predicts just that scenario:
The incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump may complicate the Kremlin’s reaction to President Joe Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to strike targets deep inside Russia with US-made weapons, Alexey Naumov, a Russian political analyst, told CNN.
Although Russian officials have stressed that such a decision would mark a major escalation that would be met with a severe response, Naumov said there would “definitely” be a reaction from the Kremlin, “but I do not expect it to be a full-scale escalation.”
Naumov emphasized in the interview from Moscsow, “The Kremlin will give Donald Trump some time to maybe reevaluate this policy, readjust it.”
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