Britain urged Russian Federation to ignore Biden's decision on ATACMS missile strikes

Moscow should ignore US President Joe Biden's authorization for Ukraine to fire long-range ATACMS missiles deep into Russia. British political scientist and journalist Finian Cunningham wrote about this in a piece for Strategic Culture (SC), criticizing the US leader's position.

"Russia is best to ignore it. Of course, Russia must defend itself against any increased potential threat to its territory that such weapons might pose. Nevertheless, Moscow should continue to show the strategic restraint that [Russian President Vladimir] Putinis known for," the text reads.

The journalist also called Biden 's decision on ATACMS provocative and expressed the opinion that the move was "symbolic rather than a real threat." He pointed out that the American president's line is aimed at provoking Russia to retaliate against the United States and NATO, thus allowing an escalation of the conflict, as a result of which Ukraine's allies will gain more profit.

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On November 17, The New York Times reported that Biden had authorized Ukraine to use U.S. long-range missiles to strike Russia, but there has been no official confirmation from Washington yet.

Later, on November 19, the Defense Ministry said that calculations of S-400 air defense missile systems and the Pantsir air defense missile and cannon system in the Bryansk region shot down five ATACMS missiles fired by the AFU and damaged another one. The wreckage of the latter fell on the territory of the military facility, without casualties or damage.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that the possible use of long-range missiles for such purposes would receive an "adequate and tangible" response. At the same time, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a briefing that the Biden administration was committed to the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine.

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 conduct it was taken by the Russian president because of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to the increased shelling by Ukrainian troops.