WASHINGTON, November 18. /TASS/. The US State Department has neither confirmed nor denied reports that Washington authorized Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles for strikes deeper inside Russia.

“I will not speak to or confirm any policy changes,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a news conference.

On November 17, The New York Times reported, citing sources, that US President Joe Biden had authorized the use of US-supplied ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles for deep strikes in Russia. French Le Figaro reported that France and the United Kingdom had respectively granted similar authorization for the use of their SCALP and Storm Shadow missiles. The newspaper later removed the statement from its article on the website, without explanation. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said Paris had not changed its position regarding deep strikes in Russia. London has not yet provided an official comment. The German government confirmed that the United States had informed Berlin of the decision to authorize strikes deep inside Russia.

Top European diplomat Josep Borrell confirmed that the United States had lifted restrictions on the use of US-supplied missiles for strikes up to 300 kilometers inside Russia. The EU Foreign Affairs Council has discussed the issue, he said. The council, which brings together foreign ministers from EU member countries, failed to adopt a union-wide decision that would remove restrictions on the use of Western weapons to strike at inside Russian territory, so each nation will decide for itself, according to the diplomat.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow’s position regarding U.S. missile strikes deep into Russian territory was clearly outlined by Russian President Vladimir Putin in September. According to Peskov, this decision marks a “qualitatively new cycle of tensions”.