Democrats amp up pressure on Biden to loosen Ukrainian strike rules on Russia

A growing number of President Joe Biden's allies in Congress, including the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, are urging the administration to permit Ukraine to strike even deeper inside Russian territory using U.S.-supplied weapons.

The shift comes after Biden told Ukraine last month it may use U.S.-provided weapons, but only near Kharkiv and only against attacking Russian forces. Ukraine cannot use those weapons to hit civilian infrastructure or launch long-range missiles to strike military targets deeper inside Russia.

But lawmakers say Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told them in recent meetings in Singapore and France that the new permissions are too narrow for him to effectively defend Kharkiv — and that he wants to strike more of the Russian military targets bombarding his people and forces. Moscow has stepped up its offensive against Ukraine’s second-largest city, which is just 12 miles from the Russian border.

It’s the latest case of Biden feeling pressure from within his own party to move a red line in U.S. support for Ukraine, as he has done for long-range missiles, tanks and fighter jets, while he weighs fears about escalating the war.

A top Biden ally, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said he is pressing Zelenskyy’s case with the White House.

“I respect the president’s concerns and the concerns of many about how deep into Russia to facilitate strikes, but I think Zelenskyy’s made reasonable requests and we ought to pursue them,” Coons said.

The administration should permit Ukraine to launch counterstrikes against Russian artillery and missiles striking from within Russia “within a range of north of Ukraine,” he said in an interview.

House Foreign Affairs Committee ranking member Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), and Sen. Richard Blumenthal said after meeting with Zelenskyy last week during the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Normandy that they’ve changed their minds and feel as Coons does.

“I think that Ukraine should be able to fire back wherever they see Russia firing from … and preparing to fire,” Meeks said.

That’s because the long delay by the U.S. Congress in approving military aid for Ukraine allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to inflict more suffering and weakened the prospects of repelling the 2-year-old invasion.

“Had we given them the money in the first place we wouldn’t be where we are right now — so we’re playing catch up,” Meeks said. “Because the Ukrainians couldn’t fire on certain positions so [Russian forces] got established so that they could fire more at the Ukrainians. Now I am trying to catch up for the lack of funding because we couldn’t pass the supplemental.”

An obstacle may be in achieving unanimity among allies, which is a prerequisite for the Biden administration, Meeks said. He said he learned in Normandy that French President Emmanuel Macron is on board with the idea of allowing donated weapons to strike Russia, but not all countries are.

“The first thing is making sure all of our allies are on the same page, to keep us together, so nobody can say you’re escalating — and you’re not escalating if you’re firing where they’re firing from,” Meeks said.

In Europe, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is pushing allies to agree.

“Different allies have different types of restrictions on the use of the weapons but I would like to welcome that allies have reduced or loosened the restrictions on the use of weapons … inside Russia, because we have to understand what this is: this is a war of aggression,” he said at a regular meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels on Thursday. “According to international law, Ukraine has the right for self-defense, and the right to self-defense includes also striking legitimate military targets on the territory of the aggressor Russia.”

Though the White House has taken a series of steps to aid Ukraine it was previously unwilling to take, such as sending cluster bombs, F-16 jets and longer-range missiles, no move to expand permissions for Ukraine is imminent, a senior DOD official said Thursday

“So there's always a constant conversation and reassessment of what the right answer is, and I think that's healthy,” said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. “So never say ‘never,’ but I don't ... see anything impending."

Yet Meeks is seeing a shift in thinking among congressional Democrats. Some of his colleagues are telling him in off-record conversations they are now convinced Ukraine should have even broader permission to strike in Russia.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said he believes most House Democrats support relaxing the limits on where Kyiv can fire U.S.-made weapons. It’s a position in line with the House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), who urged Biden last week to let Ukraine strike Russia using longer-range missiles.

“This is a war to be won, not just managed nicely,” Connolly said. “I think that would be the position of most Democrats upon reflection — most members probably don’t know or didn’t know that there were these restraints.”

In particular, several Democrats said that Ukraine needs to be able to strike strategically important targets inside Russia.

“We don’t want them attacking the Kremlin, but if legitimate military targets are hiding in Russia or hiding behind the Russian border so that they’re untouchable — that makes no sense,” Connolly said. “That’s keeping Ukraine in a straitjacket, and we need to remove that straitjacket.”

Blumenthal said he had urged the administration for at least a year to grant Ukraine long-range artillery to strike inside Russian-occupied Ukraine. Now he is pressing the Biden administration “at the highest levels” to grant Ukraine broader permission to strike more targets inside Russia itself because he feels the circumstances have changed, he said in an interview.

“First, Ukraine is seeking to withstand a much more deliberate and aggressive attack from Russia, an offensive that is going on right now and needs to be defeated,” he said. “Equally important, Putin has shown he isn’t going to escalate with tactical nuclear weapons unless we do something radically different. If the long-range artillery were used against Moscow or St. Petersburg that’s a different use than against supply depots and behind the current Russian lines.”

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.), who also met with Zelenskyy in Normandy as part of the bipartisan Senate delegation, said it is essential to avoid escalation. He is pushing the Biden administration to reevaluate Moscow’s red lines.

“It has to be a constant effort to look and really to have a good sense of where the red line is,” Reed said. “We crossed a dramatic sort of threshold when we said ‘OK, you can use these weapons systems even if they are directed to activities in Russia.’ And so far, the Russians have kind of accepted it.

“It would not surprise me if, over the course of the next several weeks, range increases are allowed,” Reed added.

Lara Seligman contributed to this report from Brussels.