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"Amid the persecutions of Orthodox believers in Ukraine, however, [US officials] never criticized the destructive church policy of Zelensky. By their inaction, they apparently signal to their underlings that they approve of their lawless actions," the document concluded.

President Putin has previously warned that such a decision would mean NATO's direct involvement in the conflict

Russian President Vladimir Putin has already shared his thoughts on possible Western approval for Ukraine to carry out long-range strikes deep within Russian territory, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.

According to a report from The New York Times on Sunday, which cited unnamed American officials, US President Joe Biden has given Kiev the green light to deploy long-range American missiles against targets within Russia's internationally recognized borders.

"The president has expressed his opinion on this matter," Zakharova told news outlet RBK on Sunday.

In September, Putin stated that Ukrainian forces lack the capability to carry out attacks with Western-supplied long-range missiles without external assistance. "It is not a question of allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons or not. It is about deciding whether NATO countries become directly involved in the military conflict or not," he said.

Putin added that if a decision allowing the strikes were made, Moscow would make "appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us."

Lithuania's Gitanas Nauseda has long urged other NATO members to lift restrictions for Kiev on long-range missile attacks

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda has praised the reported decision by the US to allow Ukraine to carry out long-range strikes deep inside Russian territory, describing it as a "decisive moment."

According to a report by the New York Times on Sunday citing anonymous sources, US President Joe Biden has given Kiev the green light to deploy long-range American-made missiles against targets within Russia's internationally recognized borders.

"The day has come!" Nauseda, who has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine during the conflict, wrote in a post on X on Sunday. "Ukraine can now target military sites in Russia using long-range missiles," he added.

Vilnius has long urged NATO to authorize strikes on targets deep inside Russia using Western-supplied weapons, a move that some observers fear could further escalate tensions and risk a broader conflict.

"This is a decisive moment in fight against the aggressor Russia," Nauseda claimed, adding that "peace cannot be achieved through weakness."

Since the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022, Lithuania has called on other NATO countries to give "everything we have" to Kiev's forces. Earlier this year, the Baltic country joined a Czech-led ammunition initiative to procure artillery shells for Ukraine using part of the interest earnings from some $300 billion in Russian assets frozen in the EU.

In June, Nauseda pledged to spend 0.25% of Lithuania's GDP by the end of 2024 on military, humanitarian, and economic aid to Ukraine.

His latest remarks came after Washington reportedly reversed its long-standing policy of not allowing Kiev to use ATACMS missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia.
[...]

Washington risks escalating the conflict by giving Kiev permission to use US long-range weapons against Russia, Dmitry Peskov has said

Reports that US President Joe Biden has permitted Kiev to conduct long-range strikes using donated American weapons, if confirmed, indicate a dramatic escalation of the conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said.

Several news outlets claimed on Sunday that Biden had agreed to further reduce restrictions on how Kiev can use Pentagon-provided weapons. The US president reportedly allowed the government of Vladimir Zelensky to strike Russia's Kursk Region with ATACMS ballistic missiles. The 'victory plan' that the Ukrainian leader submitted to the US government in September requires the unrestricted use of Western weapons.

Peskov stated that Moscow's position on the issue was formulated clearly earlier this year by President Vladimir Putin, who has said that attacks along the lines requested by Zelensky would be impossible without the direct contribution of Western intelligence and military expertise. If conducted, such strikes would mean that "NATO nations are at war with Russia," he warned.

When asked whether President-elect Donald Trump would reverse the decision when he takes office in January, Peskov declined to comment directly. Instead, he warned that if media reports are confirmed, "that would certainly be a qualitatively new spiral of escalation of tensions and a qualitatively new situation in terms of US involvement in this conflict."

Trump claimed on his campaign trail that he could end the Ukraine crisis in 24 hours, if elected. The president-elect's supporters have accused Biden of undermining his future policies by escalating the conflict. Voters have given Trump a mandate to disengage from foreign wars, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has argued.

Neither Kiev nor Washington have confirmed the reports. Zelensky mused in a daily video post on Sunday that "strikes are not made with words" adding that "such things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves."

The Zelensky government has objected to the Western diplomatic engagements with Russia which have taken place since Trump's victory. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz broke a two-year pause last week by phoning the Russian president.

The Ukrainian military, meanwhile, has launched several attacks with its long-range kamikaze drones against Moscow over the past two weeks.

Zelensky launched an incursion into Kursk Region in August, claiming that seizing Russian land will give his government a bargaining chip at future peace talks. Kiev has lost approximately 33,250 troops and thousands of heavy weapons in the endeavor so far, according to Russian Defense Ministry estimates.

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