Espreso Global Russia-Ukraine war U.S. backing of Ukraine's ATACMS strikes escalates tensions, says Kremlin

U.S. backing of Ukraine's ATACMS strikes escalates tensions, says Kremlin

18 November, 2024 Monday

15:51

Dmitry Peskov, the spokesperson for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, criticized the U.S. decision to allow Ukraine to use ATACMS for strikes deep into Russian territory, calling it “a significant escalation”

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RIA-Novosti and Interfax reported the information.

According to Peskov, such a decision by the U.S. administration would mark "a new escalation" and "signify a new level of Washington's involvement in the conflict in Ukraine."

"If such a decision has indeed been formulated and communicated to the Kyiv regime, this represents a qualitatively new level of tension and a fundamentally new situation in terms of U.S. involvement in this conflict," said the Kremlin spokesperson.

In September, Putin said that allowing Western long-range weapons to strike Russian territory would "change the nature of the conflict" and mean direct involvement of NATO countries in the war in Ukraine.
On November 17, U.S. President Joe Biden had authorized Ukraine to strike at Russian territory with U.S. long-range missiles.
On November 18, it was reported that Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to fire long-range ATACMS missiles deep into Russian territory only applies to the Kursk region.