Joe Biden has finally authorised Ukraine to use US-supplied long-range missiles to strike targets in Russia.
The AP news agency reported on Sunday night that Kyiv would now be able to use Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMs, which have a range of up to 190 miles.
Biden did not mentioned the decision directly during a speech at a stop in Brazil on his way to the Group of 20 summit.
The UK is expected to follow suit but prime minister Keir Starmer is yet to confirm it.
Downing Street has previously given Ukraine Storm Shadow missiles – with a range of 155 miles – but prohibited Kyiv from using them to fire into Russia.
Reports suggest the new US weapons will first be aimed towards Kursk, the Russian region where Moscow deployed up to 12,000 North Korean troops to oust the Ukrainian soldiers who had seized the area.
The move comes after the presidential election victory of Donald Trump.
He has vowed to bring the war in Ukraine to a close within 24 hours of getting into office, but it’s not clear how he would do so, sparking fears he would pressure Kyiv to cede land to Russia.
One of AP’s sources claimed the change of heart within the White House comes after Moscow lent on Pyongyang for a boost in personnel.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also been requesting permission to use the long-range missiles for months, saying the ban of using such weapons made it impossible for Kyiv to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electricity infrastructure.
Washington has been dragging its heels amid fears it would transform the regional war into a global battle, where nuclear-armed Russia would claim they were now in direct conflict with the west.
Some in the US have already slammed the move, though.
“Joe Biden just set the stage for World War III. Let’s all pray it doesn’t come to that,” Republican US senator Mike Lee for Utah wrote on social media.
The reports come after Biden met with leaders of South Korea, Japan and China over the last two days over the North Korean troops.
The UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres did not acknowledge the claims in press conference, but said that the UN wants to “avoid a permanent deterioration of the war in Ukraine”.
He added: “We want peace, we want fair peace.”
The US previously allow Ukraine to use US-provided weaponry for limited strikes just across the border.