By AAMER MADHANI, COLLEEN LONG, ZEKE MILLER, MATTHEW LEE and ELLEN KNICKMEYER
MANAUS, Brazil — President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia, easing limitations on the weapons as Russia deploys thousands of North Korean troops to reinforce its war, according to a U.S. official and three people familiar with the matter.
The decision allowing Kyiv to use the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMs, for attacks farther inside Russia comes as President Vladimir Putin positions North Korean troops along Ukraine’s northern border to try to reclaim hundreds of miles of territory seized by Ukrainian forces.
Biden’s move also follows the presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who has said he would bring about a swift end to the war and raised uncertainty about whether his administration would continue the United States’ vital military support for Ukraine.
The longer-range missiles are likely to be used in response to North Korea’s decision to support Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to one of the people. The official and the people familiar with the matter were not authorized to discuss the decision publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and many of his Western supporters have been pressing Biden for months to allow Ukraine to strike military targets deeper inside Russia with Western-supplied missiles, saying the U.S. ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids.
Some supporters have argued that the limitation and other U.S. constraints could cost Ukraine the war. The debate has become a source of disagreement among Ukraine’s NATO allies.
Biden had remained opposed, determined to hold the line against any escalation that he felt could draw the U.S. and other NATO members into direct conflict with nuclear-armed Russia.
News of Biden’s decision followed meetings over the last two days with the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China where North Korean troops were central to the talks, which took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.
Biden did not mention the decision during a speech at a stop to the Amazon rainforest in Brazil on his way to the Group of 20 summit.
Asked about the decision, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a press conference that the body’s position is “to avoid a permanent deterioration of the war in Ukraine.”
“We want peace, we want fair peace,” Guterres said on Sunday ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Rio de Janeiro. He didn’t elaborate.
Russia on Sunday launched a massive drone and missile attack on Ukraine, described by officials as the largest in recent months, targeting energy infrastructure and killing civilians.
North Korea has provided thousands of troops to Russia to help Moscow try to claw back land in the Kursk border region that Ukraine seized this year. The introduction of North Korean troops to the conflict comes as Moscow has seen a favorable shift in momentum. Trump has signaled that he could push Ukraine to agree to give up some land seized by Russia to find an end to the conflict.
As many as 12,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, according to U.S., South Korean and Ukrainian assessments. U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials say North Korea also has provided Russia with significant amounts of munitions to replenish its dwindling weapons stockpiles.
Trump, who takes office in January, spoke for months as a candidate about wanting Russia’s war in Ukraine to be over, but he mostly ducked questions about whether he wanted U.S. ally Ukraine to win.
He also repeatedly slammed the Biden administration for giving Kyiv tens of billions of dollars in aid. His victory has Ukraine’s international backers worrying that any rushed settlement would mostly benefit Putin.
America is Ukraine’s most valuable ally in the war, providing more than $56.2 billion in security assistance since Russian forces invaded in February 2022.
Worried about Russia’s response, however, the Biden administration repeatedly has delayed providing some specific advanced weapons sought by Ukraine, agreeing only under pressure from Kyiv, its supporters and in consultation with allies.
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That includes initially refusing Zelenskyy’s pleas for advanced tanks, Patriot air defense systems and F-16 fighter jets, among other systems.
The White House agreed in May to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weaponry for limited strikes just across the border with Russia.
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Long, Miller, Knickmeyer and Lee reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Will Weissert in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.
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