A pair of powerful congressional Republicans on Sunday blasted the Biden administration for waiting months to allow Ukraine to use long-range U.S. weapons inside Russia.
The reported lifting of the restrictions on the Army Tactical Missile System “does not excuse the administration’s deliberate slow-walking of items and assistance long authorized by Congress for use against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal aggression,” Armed Services ranking member Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) said in a statement.
“This devastating conflict could have been ended on terms benefiting the U.S. and NATO if Mr. Biden had listened to the counsel of bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate,” he added.
The move, which comes as Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region brace for an assault by tens of thousands of Russian and North Korean troops, represents an about face for the White House which has long refused to allow Kyiv to use Army Tactical Missile Systems deep inside Russia.
The New York Times and Reuters were the first to report the Biden administration was taking the long-awaited step. A U.S. official familiar with the situation confirmed the reports about long-range missiles.
The issue has been hotly debated within the administration but the entry of North Korean troops onto the battlefield, and continued territorial losses by Ukrainian forces inside Ukraine, have sharpened Ukrainian demands for the extra firepower.
Loosening the restrictions is the latest step from Biden to expand aid to Ukraine after he granted permission for U.S. military contractors to deploy to Ukraine to maintain advanced weapons systems like F-16s and Patriot missiles. That followed the State Department’s effort this year to beef up the presence of American diplomats by adding several dozen people at the embassy in Kyiv.
Wicker urged Biden last month to loosen restrictions on U.S. contractors in Ukraine and on strikes inside Russia, among other moves.
House Intelligence Chair Mike Turner (R-Ohio) criticized Biden over the delay, calling the new move “long overdue,” saying, “President Biden should have listened to President Zelenskyy’s pleas much earlier.” He urged Biden to lift remaining limits without being specific.
“President Biden continues to impose restrictions on Ukraine that prevent Ukrainians from defending themselves and prevent this conflict from ending,” Turner added. “This first step will put pressure on Vladimir Putin as President-elect Trump returns to the White House and works to end this war.”
The decision is not likely to significantly alter battlefield dynamics, but the Ukrainian forces in Kursk are facing an expected assault by around 50,000 troops including 10,000 North Korean troops, and the weapons can be used to hammer convoys and weapons depots close to the front lines.
Biden administration officials have long opposed the use of ATACMS widely in Russia, fearing a backlash from Moscow and a widening of the war. Pentagon officials have also said the limited stockpiles of ATACMS in the U.S. argue against having Ukraine use more of them.
In a statement Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that one of the main points of the plan for victory he has briefed allies on for most of the fall includes “long-range for our army,” and while he acknowledged reports about the new authorization, “blows are not inflicted with words. Such things are not announced. The rockets will speak for themselves.”
The move will also reportedly allow Ukrainian forces the ability to use long-range British and French Storm Shadow weapons inside Russia.
The Pentagon declined to comment, and White House officials did not respond to repeated requests.
The move also comes as President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to forge a peace agreement immediately upon taking office, stoking fears he could reduce or cut off U.S. military support to Ukraine and press Ukraine to make unfavorable concessions.
To improve Ukraine’s position, lawmakers in both parties have been pressing Biden for months to loosen restrictions on U.S. aid to Ukraine, including on its use of Army Tactical Missile Systems to strike inside Russia. Democrats reacting Sunday also said the step was overdue.
A Biden ally, Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), said the move was “long overdue but still positive” and urged that Ukraine be allowed to strike troop staging sites, missile launching hubs, and, “most impactfully,” oil refineries around Moscow. He argued NATO needs to demonstrate strength to Russia and other autocracies.
“That petroleum is the lifeblood of Putin’s war economy,” Auchincloss, an Afghanistan vet, said on MSNBC. “If they can impair the functioning of those oil refineries, all of which are in-range of U.S.-made weapons, they can grind to a halt Putin’s advances.”
House Foreign Affairs ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) urged Trump not to stop what Biden was starting.
“Easing these restrictions is critical to safeguarding Ukraine’s infrastructure, protecting civilians, and advancing its fight for freedom,” he said in a statement. “It also sends a clear message to our allies: The Biden administration is committed to a Ukrainian victory on Ukraine’s terms. The incoming administration would be wise to continue this vital support.”
Trump’s backers on Sunday framed the Biden administration’s decision to lift targeting restrictions as a reckless escalation of the conflict just months before a new administration would take office in Washington.
“Biden, whose mental faculties are objectively failing, needlessly and recklessly escalates the Ukraine war, two months before [Trump] will no doubt end it,” Kevin Roberts, the president of the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, posted on X after reports of the decision began to emerge.
“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. said on social media on Sunday. “Gotta lock in those $Trillions. Life be damned!!! Imbeciles!”
Silicon Valley investor David Sacks, a Trump donor and fundraiser, accused Biden of trying to hamstring the incoming commander-in-chief.
“President Trump won a clear mandate to end the war in Ukraine,” Sacks said on social media. “So what does Biden do in his final two months in office? Massively escalate it. Is his goal to hand Trump the worst situation possible?”
Biden last year approved sending the medium-range version of the missile but was still reluctant to send the long-range type Ukraine wanted. The Ukrainians used the medium-range missile to target arms depots and Russian training bases in occupied Crimea, inflicting serious damage on the Russian military.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly pressed for the U.S. to allow Kyiv to take the gloves off and use the missiles inside Russia as they see fit, but strikes have been limited to a small area around Sumy. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov has briefed U.S. officials on targets inside Russia that Ukraine would like to hit, including large ammunition depots and airfields, but Russia has already moved most major assets out of the missiles’ range, U.S. and Ukrainian officials have said.
Ukraine has managed to inflict major damage on some of those weapons depots by using homemade drones laden with explosives, which have been able to void Russian air defenses to decimate warehouses further away from Ukraine’s border.
But the decision comes at a time when Ukraine’s battlefield position has gotten increasingly precarious. Russia has tried to continue assaults against Ukrainian troops that are increasingly isolated in Kursk, including with multi-wave assaults, and Russian forces have made gains in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, despite failing to reclaim areas surrounding the eastern city of Kharkiv.
Russia also launched some of its largest-scale attacks against Ukraine in months this week, including firing 210 missiles and drones in attacks across the country on Saturday night and into Sunday morning, as the Kremlin looks to target both civilians and the electrical grid with winter beginning to set in.
Nahal Toosi contributed to this article.
