(Tribune News Service) — President Joe Biden defended his decision to allow Ukraine to launch U.S.-provided weapons against military targets within Russia, characterizing it as limited in scope amid worries it could spark a wider war.

Biden, in an interview aired on ABC’s Good Morning America, was asked if Ukraine was already using American weapons inside Russia, but he avoided giving specifics.

“They are authorized to be used in proximity to the border,” Biden said. “We are not authorizing strikes 200 miles into Russia. We’re not authorizing strikes on Moscow, on the Kremlin.”

“It’s just across the border where they’re receiving significant fire from conventional weapons used by the Russians to go into Ukraine to kill Ukrainians,” he added.

The decision to allow U.S. weapons in retaliatory strikes against Russia marks a shift for Biden, who had long resisted such a move, worrying it could mark an escalation of the war and invite Russian attacks on NATO nations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has long urged allies to send long-range weapons that would allow his forces to strike targets inside Russia.

Biden spoke with ABC from Normandy, where he is marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day allied invasion and is expected to use his remarks to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to allies and assail Russian President Vladimir Putin and general-election opponent Donald Trump as present-day threats to democracy.

Putin has responded with new threats, including saying that such actions could mark direct involvement by other countries in the war and suggesting that Russia could provide weapons to others to strike targets in the West.

Asked if those remarks concerned him, Biden responded, “I’ve known him for over 40 years, he’s concerned me for 40 years.”

“He’s not a decent man, he’s a dictator and he’s struggling to make sure he holds his country together while still keeping this assault going,” Biden said.

Biden plans to meet twice with Zelenskyy in the coming weeks, in a bid to demonstrate U.S. solidarity with Kyiv in its defense against Russia despite his skipping an upcoming peace summit in Switzerland.

The pair are also slated to meet next week at the Group of Seven summit in Italy, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters earlier this week.

The Ukrainian leader had criticized Biden’s decision not to attend the peace summit, with Sullivan and Vice President Kamala Harris going in his place. Biden will be at a previously scheduled, high-dollar political fundraiser in Los Angeles featuring former President Barack Obama and Hollywood stars George Clooney and Julia Roberts.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Visit bloomberg.com. 

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.