The Russian military offensive around the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has been stopped, the White House national security adviser said yesterday, who sees it as a consequence of the green light Washington gave the Ukrainians to attack targets in Russia itself.
“From the point of view of the United States (U.S.) president, it’s just common sense. What was happening around Kharkiv, what was new in recent months, was the Russian offensive. It didn’t make sense not to allow the Ukrainians to attack across the border,” Jake Sullivan told the American television network CBS.
According to him, Biden gave approval to the Ukrainians, and they applied it on the battlefield.
“I want to emphasize that this (Russian) offensive on Kharkiv has been stopped. That city is still under threat from the Russians, who haven’t made any progress in that area in recent days,” Sullivan said.
The U.S. president has long refused to allow the Ukrainians to use U.S.-supplied weapons for attacks inside Russian territory, but recently changed his stance. However, Biden also set certain conditions, namely that only the border area can be targeted.