"No change of course"

USA rejects use of weapons in Russia

The US government continues to reject the use of Western weapons against targets in Russia. "There is no change in our policy: we are neither encouraging nor enabling the use of US weapons on Russian soil," said John Kirby from the National Security Council on Wednesday.

There is no change of course at the moment, but support will be adapted to changing conditions on the battlefield and to the needs of the Ukrainian military. This will continue to be the case in the future, said John Kirby, Communications Director of the National Security Council.

There have recently been calls to allow the Ukrainian military to use Western weapons against targets in Russia. These include French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who wants to lift existing restrictions. EU diplomats suspect that the US government could follow suit. However, they want to avoid a confrontation between the two largest nuclear powers and therefore have little interest in a public debate on the issue.

Blinking against the US position?
Several days ago, the American daily newspaper "New York Times" reported that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was campaigning internally to allow the Ukrainian army to strike Russian territory with US weapons (see video above). The State Department has not commented on this.

The Ukrainian army has been repeatedly attacking targets in Russia for months using weapons it has produced itself, such as drones. These include oil depots, refineries and targets in the Russian city of Belgorod. According to its own statements, the aim is to hit the logistics and supplies of Russian troops.