Biden: Ukraine Can Use US Weapons Near Russian Border

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President Joe Biden said Ukraine is not authorized to use U.S. weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia, including Moscow, ABC News reported.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Ukraine has used U.S. weapons to strike inside Russia in recent days, according to a U.S. senator and a Western official familiar with the matter.

That report said the weapons were used under recently approved guidance from Biden allowing American arms to be used to hit targets inside Russia for the limited purpose of defending Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

South Dakota Republican Sen. Mike Rounds, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, confirmed the strikes with U.S. weapons, but did not say how he was briefed.

During an interview with ABC News’ David Muir on Thursday, Biden said the weapons can be used to hit Russian targets near the border.

“They’re authorized to be used in proximity to the border when they’re being used on the other side of the border to attack specific targets in Ukraine,” Biden said at the Normandy American Cemetery on the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

“We’re not authorizing strikes 200 miles into Russia, and we’re not authorizing strikes on Moscow, on the Kremlin.”

Biden was asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments that “the supply of high-precision weapons to Ukraine for strikes on Russian territory is direct participation in this war.”

“Does that concern you?” Muir asked Biden.

“I’ve known him for over 40 years. He’s concerned me for 40 years. He’s not a decent man,” Biden said. “He’s a dictator, and he’s struggling to make sure he holds his country together while still keeping this assault going.

“We’re not talking about giving them [Ukraine] weapons to strike Moscow, to strike the Kremlin, to strike against — just across the border, where they’re receiving significant fire from conventional weapons used by the Russians to go into Ukraine to kill Ukrainians.”

While speaking at the D-Day ceremony, Biden said “we will not walk away” from the defense of Ukraine and allow Russia to threaten more of Europe.

“To surrender to bullies, to bow down to dictators, is simply unthinkable,” Biden said. “If we were to do that, it means we’d be forgetting what happened here on these hallowed beaches.”