US president allows Ukraine to use US weapons on Russian territory, confirms Blinken

Blinken said this at a press conference in Prague, Radio Liberty reports.

"Over the last few weeks, Ukraine has come to us and asked for permission to use the weapons we are providing to defend against this aggression, including against Russian troops who are concentrating on the Russian side of the border and then attacking Ukraine. This is a right to the president, and as you heard, he approved the use of our weapons for this purpose," Blinken said.

Earlier, Zelenskyy said at a press conference at the third Ukraine-Northern Europe summit that the United States had sent a message about using its weapons to strike Russia.

"We had a message from the American side. Early this morning (May 31 - ed.) I received this message from my military. I can't give you details about it," he said.

According to the president, such a US permit is "a step forward, and an opportunity for Ukraine to protect the residents of the border areas.”

"I want to see what will happen in practice. But what I see is, in any case, a step forward towards this goal that we discussed earlier, to enable us to protect our people who live near the border," Zelenskyy added.

Ukrainian presidential spokesman Serhii Nykyforov also confirmed this information to The Guardian.

Nykyforov confirmed that the Biden administration had secretly approved Kyiv's use of US weapons to strike Russian territory, but that the authorization was limited to the Kharkiv region.

"This will greatly enhance our ability to counter Russian attempts to advance across the border," he said.

At the same time, Zelenskyy made it clear in an interview with the publication: Ukraine needs the ability to use "powerful" long-range weapons capable of hitting targets deep in the Russian Federation, a red line that the United States has refused to erase.

"Believe us, we have to respond. They understand nothing but force. We are not the first and not the last target," the Ukrainian president said.

He added that without the White House's green light, Ukraine's other allies, such as the United Kingdom, may not allow the use of their long-range weapons.

On May 30, Politico reported, citing a US official and two other people familiar with the matter: "Biden secretly authorized Ukraine to strike Russia with US weapons.

The US administration has secretly authorized Kyiv to use US weapons for strikes inside Russia. However, it applies only to the Kharkiv region.

The president has recently instructed his team to ensure that Ukraine can use American weapons to retaliate in the Kharkiv region so that Ukraine can retaliate against Russian forces that are striking or preparing to strike," a US official told Politico.

At the same time, he added that Washington's policy on long-range strikes against Russia remained unchanged.

Which countries allowed Ukraine to use its weapons to strike at the territory of Russia

On May 2, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that Ukraine has the right to use British weapons to strike at Russian territory. In response, Russia threatened to strike at UK military facilities.

On May 26, Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson said that Ukraine could use weapons provided by Stockholm to hit targets in Russia.

On May 27, the Parliamentary Assembly of the North Atlantic Alliance called on the governments of all NATO member states to allow Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike at Russian targets.

Later, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Ukraine has the right to strike military targets in Russia.

Subsequently, Polish Deputy Defense Minister Cezary Tomczyk said that his country supports Ukraine's right to use Western weapons to strike targets in Russia.

Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Estonia, the Czech Republic, and Finland also gave permission to use their weapons outside Ukraine.

On May 29, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said that the country had not set any conditions for the use of weapons when providing Kyiv with them.

At the same time, the United States continues to restrict Ukraine's ability to use the weapons it has been given.

On May 30, Norway said that Western countries should allow Ukraine to use their weapons on Russian territory to speed up Kyiv's victory.

On the same day, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said that Ukraine would be able to use Danish F-16 fighter jets to strike military targets in Russia.