Trump condemns Biden’s permission for Ukraine’s long-range strikes on Russia’s
- 17 December, 09:28
US president-elect Donald Trump has condemned Biden administration’s decision to authorize Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles in attacks deep into Russian territory. Commenting on lifting the limit for Ukraine’s use of ATACMS missiles, Trump said: I think it was a very stupid thing to do.” The president-elect added that he might reverse Biden’s decision. Furthermore, Trump explained that Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles in Russian territory was the reason for Kremlin’s deployment of thousands of North Korean troops on the frontline.
He made the remarks on Monday, during his first press conference after his election to the second term presidency. Trump also pointed to the timing of the Biden’s decision, reminding that it was passed just two months before his inauguration on late January.
Biden administration hit back at Trump’s criticism, with White House national security spokesperson John Kirby stating that the relevant decision was made after moths of deliberations.
“All I can assure you is that in the conversations we’ve had with them since the election, and we’ve had at various levels, we have articulated to them the logic behind it, the thinking behind it, why we were doing it,” John Kirby said in a statement on Monday.
It should be noted that Kremlin responded to Kyiv’s use of US-made ATACMS and British-France Storms Shadow long-range missiles in strikes on Russia in November by attacking Ukraine’s Dnipro region with new “Oreshnik” medium-range ballistic missiles in the first us of such weapons in the conflict. Vladimir Putin warned that he might consider further launches of Russia’s new “Oreshnik” medium-range ballistic missile in strikes on Kyiv.
