The Biden administration is beginning to soften its stance on the war in Ukraine and is considering Kyiv’s argument that it needs more powerful weapons to strike the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, which is home to about 70,000 Russian troops and many others. Moscow, reports News.ro with reference to The New York Times.

The United States has always maintained that the Crimean peninsula, illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014, is part of Ukraine. However, the Biden administration has maintained a hard line since the Russian invasion in February 2022, refusing to provide Kiev with the weapons it needs to target the Crimean peninsula, which Russia uses as a base to launch devastating strikes. Now this hard line of the American administration is beginning to soften, writes NYT.

After months of negotiations with Ukrainian officials, the Biden administration is finally beginning to recognize that Kiev will need the authority to strike this Russian “sanctuary,” even if such a move increases the risk of escalation, some said. protection of anonymity by the New York daily newspaper.

The softening came as the Biden administration began to believe that if the Ukrainian military showed Moscow that they could threaten its control of Crimea, it would strengthen Kyiv’s position in any future negotiations. In addition, fears that the Kremlin might respond with tactical nuclear weapons have diminished, U.S. officials and experts said, although they warned that the risk remained.

The new attitude towards Crimea shows how far the officials of the Biden administration have come compared to the beginning of the war, when they did not even want to publicly admit that the US supplied Ukrainian troops with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, he notes. New York Times.

Now, the newspaper said, the Biden administration is considering what would be one of its boldest moves yet, helping Ukraine attack the peninsula, which President Vladimir Putin sees as integral to his efforts to restore Russia to its former glory.

U.S. officials are discussing with their Ukrainian counterparts the use of U.S.-supplied weapons, from HIMARS missile systems to Bradley fighting vehicles, to possibly retake control of a land bridge that is a critical supply route for Russian troops and connects Crimea to Russia via cities Melitopol and Mariupol, currently occupied by the Russians.

However, President Biden is not yet ready to provide Ukraine with long-range missile systems, which Kiev will need to attack Russian facilities on the peninsula.