The White House did not confirm Kiev's authorization to strike Russian Federation with ATACMS missiles

The White House does not directly confirm Ukraine 's authorization to strike Russian territory with ATACMS missiles and bases its decisions on the situation on the battlefield. Deputy National Security Advisor to the US President John Feiner told reporters on November 18.

"The United States has made clear throughout the conflict that it will make policy decisions based on the situation on the battlefield, including the significant escalation associated with the deployment of foreign state forces on Russian territory in recent days and weeks," Feiner said, as quoted by RIA Novosti.

The statement came in response to a question about whether the White House was ready to confirm that Ukraine was authorized to use ATACMS for strikes against Russian Federation.

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Earlier, on November 17, The New York Times reported that US President Joe Biden had authorized Ukraine to use US long-range missiles to strike Russia. The Le Figaro newspaper said at the same time that the French and British authorities had made a similar decision, but then removed this information from the article. European Union (EU) diplomacy chief Josep Borrell said afterward that on November 18-19, the issue of lifting restrictions on strikes deep into Russia with European weapons would be discussed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, commenting on these discussions, pointed out that a possible authorization for Ukraine to strike Russian territory with long-range ATACMS missiles would be a qualitatively new round of tension. Peskov added that Moscow's position on this issue was clear to everyone, and Russian President Vladimir Putin had voiced his warnings to the West in this regard.

Chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin said on November 18 that it was necessary to make sure that the information about Biden's authorization on ATACMS was reliable. The senator emphasized that if these reports are officially confirmed, the US president's decision would be a bad step for international stability.

Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which began on February 24, 2022. The decision to carry it out was made by the Russian president due to the aggravation of the situation in the region due to the increased shelling by Ukrainian troops.