PRAGUE — The German government announced Friday that Ukraine can use German weapons to combat Russian cross-border attacks, a reversal of policy that came a day after President Biden similarly gave Kyiv permission to use U.S.-provided arms to hit limited military targets in Russia.
For weeks, as Russia unleashed a brutal new assault on Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region, reoccupying some towns and villages and bombing relentlessly, Ukrainian officials had pleaded with their biggest Western supporters to lift long-standing restrictions on the use of donated weapons to hit targets on Russian soil — a prohibition that the White House had insisted was necessary to limit the chances of a direct conflict between Russia and NATO countries.
The Ukrainians had long complained that the restrictions effectively left their military fighting with one arm behind their backs, allowing Russia’s forces to advance and to inflict far higher casualties on Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.
Despite the limits, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials for months have insisted that Russia is fighting not only Ukraine but the United States and other NATO allies.
The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Friday that Biden’s decision merely provided the latest evidence that Russia’s assertions were correct.
“Attempts to strike Russian Federation with U.S. weapons demonstrate U.S. involvement in the conflict in Ukraine,” Peskov told journalists. “We know that, in general, American-made weapons are already being used to attempt strikes on Russian territory. We have had enough of this, and it is more than eloquent evidence of the extent of the United States’ involvement in this conflict.”
In the lead-up to a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Prague, key European allies pressed to lift restrictions. On Thursday, the White House said Biden did just that, granting Ukrainian forces the ability to hit back at Russian forces attacking them in and around Kharkiv.
The shift grants Ukraine permission to use U.S.-provided artillery and rocket launchers to hit Russian troops and equipment just across the border from Kharkiv and to strike missiles headed toward Ukrainian territory, according to U.S. officials. They stressed that the Biden administration’s policy barring longer-range strikes inside Russia has not changed.
After the U.S. announcement, Germany, a holdout, quickly followed suit, saying Ukrainian soldiers have the right to use German weapons to hit back. “In recent weeks, Russia has prepared, coordinated and carried out attacks, particularly in the Kharkiv area, from positions in the immediately adjacent Russian border area,” Germany said in a statement.
“Ukraine has the right under international law to defend itself against these attacks,” the statement continued. “To this end, [Ukraine] can also use the weapons supplied for this purpose in accordance with its international legal obligations, including those supplied by us.”
In recent months, dire conditions on the battlefield have pushed Ukraine’s supporters to consider options once deemed too escalatory.
In February, French President Emmanuel Macron surprised many by saying “no option should be discarded” in response to a question about sending Western troops to Ukraine.
In recent days, top Ukrainian officials have said they are in discussions with Paris about sending French military trainers to Ukraine. Macron is expected to announce plans for sending the trainers when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits France on Thursday for a D-Day commemoration.
The Biden administration has long ruled out the idea of U.S. troops in Ukraine.
Kate Brady contributed to this report from Berlin.