General
Tuesday Briefing
Ukraine’s new military powers.
Ukrainian soldiers heading toward the Kursk region of Russia.Credit…David Guttenfelder for The New York Times
Ukraine’s shrinking window to strike inside Russia
For at least the next two months, Ukraine will be able to try long-range strikes inside Russia using missiles provided by the U.S.
President Biden this week relented after months of pleas from Kyiv saying that it needed to fire deeper inside Russia to more effectively degrade Moscow’s forces. Ukrainian politicians have suggested that the first launches were imminent.
But hanging over that newfound freedom is the impending ascent of Trump to the White House in January. It is unclear how much of the Biden administration’s approach to Ukraine will survive once Donald Trump takes office. The president-elect has said he wants to bring about a quick resolution to the war — without saying how.
American officials said the weapon, known as the Army Tactical Missile System, was likely to be deployed, at least initially, against Russian and North Korean troops in the Kursk region of western Russia. While Biden’s decision may help Ukrainian troops under fire in the short term, it is unlikely to change the trajectory of the war, experts said.
Response: In Moscow, the Kremlin said the Biden administration’s decision was a major step toward a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO.
A parting message: At the start of the G20 summit in Brazil yesterday, Biden used one of his final moments on the global stage to encourage more world leaders to assist Ukraine.
