US lifts restrictions on Ukraine targeting Russian border regions

The United States' decision to allow Ukraine to strike Russian territory with American weapons does not only concern the Kharkiv region, Michael Carpenter, Director for European Affairs of the National Security Council at the White House, said on Friday.

In an interview for Ukrainian television TSN, broadcasted on Friday evening, Carpenter indicated that he could not disclose the specific conditions under which Ukraine can strike Russian territory for operational security reasons. He confirmed, however, that it concerns the areas near the Kharkiv region and the Sumy region.

- The recommendations apply to the northern border in Kharkiv and Sumy oblasts, where Russian forces are firing on Ukraine. They (Russian troops) used to be able to fire relatively safely from there, but now Ukrainian forces can use our ammunition and weapons to be able to fire back - said the representative of the U.S. National Security Council.

Carpenter did not want to say whether Washington's decision could extend to other Russian territories.

He emphasized, however, that these recommendations concerned the northern border in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions, from where Russian forces were shelling Ukraine.

President Biden on Friday agreed that Ukraine could use American weapons against Russian forces shelling or preparing to attack the Kharkiv region. Still, the ban on using ATACMS and other long-range missiles on Russian territory will remain in effect - a representative of the U.S. administration told PAP.

As the Ukrainian Pravda portal reminded us, since February 2022, the United States has not allowed the use of any weapons they provide to Ukraine for attacks on Russian territory. Ukraine was allowed to strike targets in Crimea and Donbas, as they are within the internationally recognised borders of Ukraine.