Erdogan condemned Biden's decision on ATACMS missile strikes

US President Joe Biden 's authorization for Ukraine to strike Russian territories with ATACMS missiles puts the entire world at risk of a new large-scale war. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters on Wednesday, November 20, while returning from the G20 summit.

"Biden has taken a step that can be seen as aimed at further fueling the [Ukrainian] conflict <...>, to ensure that it never ends and even spreads," Anadolu Agency quoted him as saying.

The Turkish leader called the decision a game with fire, adding that the US side would not achieve anything by acting on the principle of "after us at least a flood." He noted that he wants to believe in the promises of newly elected US President Donald Trump to end all global conflicts and hopes to witness "positive developments".

Range deadline: what could change U.S. authorization for strikes deep inside Russian Federation

How the current events will affect the course of the conflict in Ukraine and Russia's response to it

On November 17, The New York Times reported that Biden had authorized Ukraine to use US long-range missiles to strike Russia, but there has been no official confirmation from Washington yet. At the same time, the deputy national security adviser to the US president, John Feiner, did not confirm in a conversation with journalists on 18 November that Washington had given such permission to Kiev. The official noted that the White House, when making decisions, proceeds from the situation on the battlefield.

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.