Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has indicated there may be no formal announcement of the US deal – “the missiles will speak for themselves,” he said on Sunday.
Ukraine may use the ATACMS in Kursk first – in fact some reports suggest the US may have restricted their use there as a signal to North Korea to stop sending aid to Russia and to Moscow itself.
Biden’s approval of the long-range missiles – which may be followed by similar authorisations by the UK and France – is being seen in the West as a way of signalling to the Russian leader that he cannot win the Ukraine war militarily.
Putin has not commented on the latest move.
In September, the Russian leader said the use of such missiles by Ukraine would represent the “direct participation” of Nato countries in the war.
On Monday, Putin’s spokesman said the US was “adding oil to the fire”.
But Jon Finer, US deputy national security adviser, said Washington had made it “clear to the Russians that we would respond” – both to the presence of North Korean forces and the “major escalation” in Russian aerial attacks on infrastructure across Ukraine.
The weekend saw intense Russian attacks against Ukraine’s power grid, causing large-scale blackouts. Several people were killed or injured.
On Monday, a Russian strike on Odesa killed another 10 people and injured nearly 50.