A Russian lawmaker has warned that outgoing President Joe Biden is risking the outbreak of a third world war by allowing Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons to strike deep into Russia.
Biden has authorized Ukraine to deploy ATACMS rockets capable of hitting targets up to 190 miles (300 km) away, according to reports from The New York Times and The Washington Post.
“These guys, Biden’s administration, is trying to escalate the situation to the maximum while they still have power and are still in office,” Russian lawmaker Maria Butina said on Monday.
“I have a great hope that [Donald] Trump will overcome this decision if this has been made because they are seriously risking the start of World War III, which is not in anybody’s interest,” she told Reuters.
Juan BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images
The Kremlin warned on Monday that permitting Ukraine to use U.S.-made weapons for deep strikes into Russian territory would escalate tensions and further entangle the U.S. in the conflict.
Newsweek has contacted the State Department and Russian foreign ministry for comment
For months, Ukraine has pressed the U.S. to approve long-range strikes into Russian territory, but the White House has hesitated, citing concerns about escalation. However, Moscow’s move to deploy North Korean soldiers to the Ukrainian front has shifted the administration’s stance.
Biden’s decision to reverse a ban on the firing of long-range U.S. missiles into Russian territory by permitting them to be used against Russian and North Korean forces in Russia’s Kursk region will be welcomed by Western allies.
Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Caspar Veldkamp described the decision as an “adequate response.”
North Korea recently sent around 10,000 of its elite troops to Kursk after Ukrainian forces launched a daring incursion and made an unexpected push across the border.
Thousands of Ukrainian troops entered Kursk in August, launching the most significant ground offensive into Russian territory since Moscow’s forces invaded Ukraine.
Responding to the wider involvement of forces from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the Russia-Ukraine war, Peter Stano, EU Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, told Newsweek: “Russia under its current leadership poses an existential threat to the EU in every sense since the Kremlin uses military might to violate the U.N. Charter, international law, and its own international obligations.
“It is also attacking the EU and its member states with hybrid tools such as foreign interference, information manipulations, and cyberattacks.
“Russia is escalating and desperately seeking any support for its war, including from actors that are severely disrupting global peace and security. Russia is not interested in a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace.
“The EU has expressed its grave concerns regarding the deployment of DPRK troops to Russia, potentially for the use on the battlefield against Ukraine.
“The DPRK’s direct support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, besides showing Russia’s desperate efforts to compensate its losses, would mark a dangerous expansion of the conflict, with serious consequences for European and Indo-Pacific peace and security. It would be a further breach of international law, including the most fundamental principles of the U.N. Charter.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Pyongyang in June to hold bilateral talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, where they signed a partnership agreement.
It states that the “other party shall provide military and other assistance without delay by all means at its disposal.
