Biden authorises Ukraine’s use of US-supplied long-range missiles

The decision allowing Ukraine to use the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMs, for attacks farther into Russia comes as thousands of North Korean troops have been sent into a region along Ukraine’s northern border to help Russia retake ground and as president-elect Donald Trump has said he would bring about a swift end to the war, expressing scepticism over continued support by the United States.

The weapons are likely to be used in response to the decision by North Korea to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, according to one of the people. The official and the people familiar with the matter were not authorised to discuss the decision publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and many of his Western supporters have been pressing Biden for months to allow Ukraine to strike military targets deeper inside Russia with Western-supplied missiles, saying the US ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids.

Some supporters have argued that this and other US constraints could cost Ukraine the war. The debate has become a source of disagreement among Ukraine’s Nato allies.

Biden had remained opposed, determined to hold the line against any escalation that he felt could draw the US and other Nato members into direct conflict with Russia.

But North Korea has deployed thousands of troops to Russia to help Moscow try to claw back land in the Kursk border region that Ukraine seized this year. The introduction of North Korean troops to the conflict comes as Moscow has seen a favourable shift in momentum. Trump has signalled that he could push Ukraine to agree to give up some land seized by Russia to find an end to the conflict.