Russia warns of escalation as US approves Kiev’s use of long-range missiles

The Kremlin has said the possible use of long-range US missiles on targets in Russia would ultimately lead to a “new round of tension” amid media reports that outgoing President Joe Biden allowed lifting restrictions on their use by Ukraine.

On Sunday, many media outlets citing anonymous officials, including The New York Times, reported that Biden has authorised Ukraine’s use of ATACMS missiles for strikes inside Russia, marking a major change in US policy ahead of the inauguration of president-elect Donald J Trump in January 2025.

“If such a decision was really formulated and communicated to the Keiv regime, then, of course, this is a qualitatively new round of tension and a qualitatively new situation from the point of view of the involvement of the US in this conflict,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow on Monday.

Expressing that Russia’s position must be absolutely clear to everyone, Peskov said these signals were read by the West and they were voiced by Russian President Vladimir Putin himself during a meeting with the heads of leading international news agencies in St. Petersburg back in June.

Peskov further said Putin’s position on this matter has been formulated “extremely clearly and unambiguously,” further indicating that the Russian side is aware of such information only based on publications in Western media.

He also said the danger seen by the Kremlin about this issue is that such long-range strikes are not carried out by Ukraine, but rather by those countries that give Kiev permission.

“This radically changes the modality of their involvement in the conflict (in Ukraine),” Peskov went on to say, adding that the outgoing Biden administration intends to take steps to further escalate the tension around the Russia-Ukraine war.

Lack of unity

Meanwhile, France also said on Monday that it could “consider” allowing Ukraine to hit Russian targets with missiles.

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot recalled that President Emmanuel Macron made a similar remark in May regarding the French missiles.

"We openly said that this was an option that we would consider if it was to allow to strike targets from where Russians are currently aggressing Ukrainian territory," Barrot told reporters before attending the EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, meanwhile, commented on the US decision to authorise Ukraine to use American missiles within Russian territory.

“You know my position. I have been saying once and again that Ukraine should be able to use the arm we provided to them, in order to not only to stop the arrow but also to be able to hit the archers,” he said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin “does not look like he is willing to negotiate,” the EU foreign policy chief said, calling on Europe for more unity.

He criticised the bloc for taking decisions slowly and lacking unity at times. "You cannot pretend to be a geopolitical power if you are taking days and weeks and months to reach agreements in order to act. … Take decisions quicker … Russia is not stopping the war because you are thinking about it,” Borrell said.