Washington has allowed Ukraine to use US weapons to strike Russian forces attacking not only Kharkiv region but also other areas, Politico quoted sources among US officials as saying.
Against the backdrop of the Russian army offensive in Kharkiv Region, the US authorised Ukraine to strike Russian territory in response to the attacks. At the time, US officials emphasised that the rule was limited to forces attacking the Kharkiv region. Since then, Ukrainian forces have used US weapons at least once to strike Russia, specifically Belgorod. However, Ukrainian and European officials are pressuring the US to loosen restrictions, allowing Ukraine to strike anywhere in Russia.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told PBS television on Tuesday that the agreement with Ukraine to fire US weapons at Russia applies to “any place where Russian forces cross the border from the Russian side to the Ukrainian side to try to seize additional Ukrainian territory.”
Two US officials said on condition of anonymity that allowing Ukraine to strike Russia in response to fire on any targets was a shift in US policy. The decision was initially discussed only in the context of the offensive in Kharkiv region, but it did not rule out the possibility of striking back in response to attacks on other Russian targets. That said, Jake Sullivan emphasised this week that the policy of avoiding long-range strikes inside Russia “has not changed.”
Hungary is not taking part in NATO mission in Ukraine, Hungarian PM says
Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has labelled Western aspirations to defeat Russia as hopeless, paying a “very high price” for doing so. He said Ukraine’s allies are getting closer “to the front line” and intervening in the fighting, while Hungary has decided to abandon this path.
Orbán said in an interview with radio station Kossuth:
If we have enough support, I can put on the brakes and the Hungarians can get off this train. The minimum goal has been achieved because Hungary is not involved in the NATO mission in Ukraine.
According to the Hungarian prime minister, the West is moving in this direction, led by the US and supported by Germany. This “war train”, Mr. Orbán believes, can only be stopped by the election of Donald Trump as US president in autumn 2024. He added:
No one from NATO will put any pressure on Hungary to join the Ukrainian conflict. Now they are trying to drag us into the war from Brussels, and that’s a battle we will win too.
The reckless escalation of the Ukrainian military conflict by NATO countries may thus have irreversible consequences that will affect not only the entire European continent, but also distant countries across the oceans.
