Washington is not seeking a direct conflict with Russia, according to national security spokesman John Kirby.
President Joe Biden aims to avoid escalating the tension over Ukraine into a global war, Kirby stated.
This comes after the White House confirmed that Biden had permitted Kiev to use US-supplied weapons for strikes deep within Russian territory. Ukraine had requested relaxed restrictions on the use of foreign arms following a renewed Russian offensive in the eastern Kharkov Region, where several border villages were captured.
“We’ve been concerned about escalation since the very beginning of this war, and those concerns remain valid,” Kirby told ABC News on Sunday. “The president has said he does not want to be responsible for starting World War III. We’re not looking for a conflict with Russia, another nuclear power.”
Kirby emphasized that Biden “had understood all of the ramifications” of allowing Kiev to use American weapons “for counter-fire purposes.” He reiterated that Ukrainians are only permitted to target bases, artillery positions, and other military sites “that Russians were using to create some sort of buffer zones.” The White House previously clarified that the ban on the use of “ATACMS [missiles] or long-range strikes inside of Russia has not changed.” However, Russia claimed that Kiev had already been using ATACMS and other long-range weapons to strike targets in Crimea, the Donbass, and the regions of Zaporozhye and Kherson. Kiev and its Western supporters continue to view these recently incorporated Russian territories as Ukrainian land.
Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the operation in the Kharkov Region aims to stop frequent Ukrainian cross-border mortar and missile attacks on Belgorod and other Russian cities. He affirmed that Moscow has no plans to seize the city of Kharkov itself during a press briefing on his trip to China last month.
Moscow has repeatedly warned that deliveries of heavy weapons to Ukraine from the West will not deter Russian forces, stressing that such aid risks dangerous escalation.
In a February interview with US journalist Tucker Carlson, Putin said it is unthinkable for anyone to drag the world into a new “global war,” which would “put the whole of humanity on the brink of survival.”
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