Kyiv’s offensive gets a greenish light from its allies – POLITICO

Giving the OK

Both Berlin and Washington shifted policy on hitting Russian territory in May in response to the Russian offensive against Ukraine’s second city of Kharkiv. Ukraine “has the right, guaranteed under international law, to defend itself against these attacks,” a German government spokesperson said at the time.

Washington’s approval in May was very carefully couched and limited to areas near Kharkiv. That’s not the same area where Ukrainian troops surged across the border this week — in some places penetrating about 50 kilometers into Russia.

But the U.S. isn’t making a big deal about the incursion.

“Obviously, we strongly support Ukraine’s effort to defend against Russia’s aggression,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Thursday, adding: “The policy that we announced was to allow Ukraine to respond to attacks coming from just over the Russian border. And yes, in the area where they are currently operating across the Russian border, we have seen attacks come from there.”

The Pentagon similarly batted down concerns that the incursion could lead to an escalation in the conflict.

Spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday that the move “is consistent with our policy” on what Ukraine can and can’t do with U.S. supplied weapons, though she added “we don’t support long range attacks into Russia.”