The Pentagon gave tacit consent to Ukraine's long-range strikes against targets on Russian territory after President Putin's numerous missile strikes against critical infrastructure in Kyiv. The British publication The Times writes about this with reference to sources from the U.S. Department of Defense.
The publication notes that since the Russian Federation began regular attacks against the civilian population of Ukraine in October, the Pentagon has revised its assessment of the threat of war in Ukraine. It now includes new considerations about whether arms supplies to Kyiv could lead to a military confrontation between Russia and NATO. Now Washington is more inclined to supply Kyiv with longer-range weapons, the publication writes.
"We still use the same escalation calculations, but the fear of escalation has changed from the very beginning. Now everything is different. This is because the calculations of the war have changed due to the suffering and brutality that the Ukrainians are experiencing at the hands of the Russians," a source in the defense authority of the United States told the publication.
Washington is now less concerned that new strikes with long-range weapons on Russian territory could lead to a dramatic escalation. So far, all of Moscow's retaliatory strikes have been associated with conventional missile strikes on civilian targets.
Previously, the Pentagon was afraid of Ukraine's attacks against Russia, because it was afraid that the Kremlin would respond either with tactical nuclear weapons or strike neighboring NATO countries.
At the same time, Washington does not want it to be seen that Kyiv has publicly received a "green light" for attacks on Russian territory. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Washington's position this week. He said that "we did not encourage and did not allow Ukrainians to strike inside Russia."
However, a source in the U.S. Department of Defense noted: "We are not telling Kyiv: 'Don't strike at the Russians (in Russia or Crimea. - Ed.).” We cannot tell them what to do. They decide for themselves how to use their weapons. But when they use weapons supplied by us, the only thing we insist on is that the Ukrainian military adhere to the international laws of war and the Geneva Conventions," said the interlocutor of the publication.
"These are the only restrictions, but they include the absence of attacks on Russian families and murders. As far as we understand, Ukraine complies with these requirements," the interlocutor added.
If the U.S. decides to supply Ukraine with longer-range weapons that can strike deep into Russian territory, fears of a possible escalation could rise sharply. However, Pentagon officials have made it clear that Kyiv's request for longer-range American weapons, including missiles and fighter-bombers that can be used for even more effective strikes inside Russia or occupied Crimea, is being seriously considered.
"Nothing is excluded," said a senior official of the U.S. Department of Defense.
