President Biden has taken a “very big step” towards starting World War III by giving Ukraine permission to deploy US-made long-range missiles to attack targets deep in Russia, top Russian lawmakers have warned.
Ukraine has already said it plans to take advantage of the policy change within a matter of days after it was reported Sunday that Biden had lifted the missile ban — in a significant reversal of Washington’s policy in the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
“This is a very big step towards the start of World War III,” said Vladimir Dzhabarov, first deputy head of the Russian upper house’s international affairs committee, according to Russia’s Tass news agency.
Other Russian officials, too, warned that the move would spark an immediate response.
“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.
The apparent decision comes just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office and follows months of pleas from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to allow Ukraine’s military to use US-supplied weapons to hit Russian military targets far from its border.
The White House declined to comment on the move, which was first reported on by the New York Times.
There was no immediate response from the Kremlin either, which has previously warned that it would see a move to loosen the limits on Ukraine’s use of US weapons as a major escalation in the ongoing conflict.
Zelensky, meanwhile, appeared to confirm the news in his evening address — saying that the missiles would “speak for themselves.”
“Today, many in the media are saying that we have received permission to take appropriate actions,” he said.
“But strikes are not made with words. Such things are not announced. Missiles will speak for themselves. They certainly will.”
Ukraine’s first deep strikes are likely to be carried out using ATACMS rockets, which have a range of up to 190 miles, multiple sources told Reuters.
While some US officials have expressed doubts that allowing long-range strikes would change the war’s trajectory, the decision could help Ukraine at a moment when Russian forces are making steady gains.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Trump — who has vowed to end the war once he takes office in January — will reverse Biden’s decision.
“As President Trump has said on the campaign trail, he is the only person who can bring both sides together in order to negotiate peace, and work towards ending the war and stopping the killing,” Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung told The Post on Sunday.
“Only official statements on this matter will come directly from President Trump or his authorized spokespeople.”
With Post wires
