| | | | |  | | By Matt Berg and Eric Bazail-Eimil | |  The Biden administration has quietly given Ukraine permission to strike across the border from Kharkiv — and only that area — using U.S.-provided weapons. | Evan Vucci/AP | Subscribe here | Email Matt | Email Eric It’s official: Ukraine is now allowed to use some U.S.-provided weapons to strike military targets in Russian territory. The Biden administration has quietly given Ukraine permission to strike across the border from Kharkiv — and only that area — using U.S.-provided weapons. That’s according to two U.S. officials and two other people familiar with the move who spoke to our own ERIN BANCO, ALEX WARD and LARA SELIGMAN today. It's a major reversal that will help Ukraine to better defend its second-largest city, following hints from top Biden aides that the U.S. would consider the move this week. “The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S. weapons for counter-fire purposes in Kharkiv so Ukraine can hit back at Russian forces hitting them or preparing to hit them,” one of the U.S. officials confirmed, adding that the policy of allowing long-range strikes inside Russia “has not changed.” In recent days, U.S. officials repeatedly told the public that there was no shift policy, but signaled that it was possible. Ukrainian officials, European allies and U.S. lawmakers from both parties have been calling on Biden to allow such strikes across the border for weeks — and the White House listened. Ukraine asked the U.S. to make this policy change only after Russia’s offensive on Kharkiv began this month, the official added. In the last few days, the U.S. made the decision to allow Ukraine “flexibility” to defend itself from attacks on the border near Kharkiv, the second U.S. official said. In effect, Ukraine can now use American-provided weapons, such as rockets and rocket launchers, to shoot down launched Russian missiles heading toward Kharkiv, at troops massing just over the Russian border near the city, or Russian bombers launching bombs toward Ukrainian territory. But the official said Ukraine cannot use those weapons to hit civilian infrastructure or launch long-range missiles, such as the Army Tactical Missile System, to hit military targets deep inside Russia. It’s a stunning shift the administration initially said would escalate the war by more directly involving the U.S. in the fight. But worsening conditions for Ukraine on the battlefield — namely Russia’s advances and improved position in Kharkiv — led the president to change his mind. Kyiv has spent the last several days drawing up plans to use the weapons to hit the Russian targets, working to keep the news quiet until it achieved its goals. In early May, a senior U.S. military official told lawmakers there would be “military value” in easing restrictions on Ukraine’s use of U.S. weapons inside Russian territory, two attendees of the meeting also told Lara, CONNOR O’BRIEN and Alex today.
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Turn the Entire Battlefield into your Field of Vision
Today's military landscape features systems and platforms engineered for standalone operations. Embracing our 21st Century Security® vision, Lockheed Martin is at the forefront of defense innovation, weaving connections between defense and digital domains. Learn more. | | | | | GAZA FOOD SALES: Israel today lifted its ban on the sale of food in Gaza that comes from Israel and the occupied West Bank for the first time since the war began, Reuters reports. The lift allows Gazans to buy much-needed food, including fresh fruit, vegetables and dairy goods this month — though the costs often skyrocket due to the demand. It comes as Israel’s intensifying assault on the southern city of Rafah this week has effectively stopped the U.N. from delivering food into the territory. WATCH ISRAEL AND EGYPT: Tensions between Israel and Egypt have significantly risen this week, sparking concerns about the future of aid efforts in southern Gaza and diplomatic ties as cease-fire talks resume. On Wednesday night, Israel’s military seized control of the Philadelphi Corridor — a strategic passage along Egypt’s border with Gaza — to cut off smuggling tunnels, The Associated Press’ TIA GOLDENBERG, WAFAA SHURAFA and SAMY MAGDY report. Egypt warned that any increase in troops along the border would violate the countries’ 1979 peace accord. Meanwhile, Egyptian and Israeli authorities are investigating the death of an Egyptian security worker who was killed in a shooting with Israeli forces near the border zone in Rafah on Monday. American officials understand that they “need to find a solution for the border that could see Israeli forces withdrawing. That is going to be of high importance to Egypt going forward,” MICHAEL WAHID HANNA, U.S. program director at the International Crisis Group think tank, told NatSec Daily. Egypt likely won’t do anything rash, like pulling out of the peace treaty, Hanna added. But Cairo “could downgrade ties in various ways unless there is a course correction.” KIM’S EXPLOSIVE WEEK: The Defense Intelligence Agency found that debris found in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Jan. 2 belonged to a short-range North Korean missile, Eric reports (for Pros!). Analysts at the agency compared open-source imagery of the debris field to publicly available images of North Korean weaponry and missile debris, and found that the weapons used were “almost certainly” North Korean. The report backs up a Jan. 4 announcement from the White House that North Korean missiles were used in the battlefield against Ukraine The DIA announcement is just the latest in what’s been an eventful week for North Korea. Earlier today, Pyongyang launched a barrage of suspected ballistic missiles into eastern waters, The Associated Press’ KIM TONG-HYUNG and HYUNG-JIN KIM report. This week, Pyongyang sent balloons carrying feces and trash into South Korean territory and tried (and failed) to launch a spy satellite. IT’S THURSDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily! This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at mberg@politico.com and ebazail@politico.com, and follow us on X at @mattberg33 and @ebazaileimil. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @alexbward, @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @leehudson, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco, @reporterjoe, and @JGedeon1.
| | | | POLITICO is gearing up to deliver experiences that help you navigate the NATO Summit. What issues should our reporting and events spotlight? Click here to let us know. | | | | | | | | G7 CYBER STRATEGY: The Biden administration is working on a major new cybersecurity initiative with G7 allies ahead of the summit to boost operational technology that runs energy systems around the world, a top White House official told our own JOSEPH GEDEON (for Pros!). The plan calls for the U.S. and allies to get major energy tech companies to agree to meet new cybersecurity principles for developing secure operational control systems in the energy sector. Among the benefits: expanded threat intelligence sharing with these firms. “We've seen Russian cyberattacks against the Ukrainian energy system and against other countries in Europe, and we know that there's a lot of added connectivity going into the energy sector,” said deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology ANNE NEUBERGER. Read: Pro-Russian Facebook ads spread to target Italy, Poland elections by our own CLOTHILDE GOUJARD
| | TO SHELVE, OR NOT TO SHELVE: The Pentagon, labor groups and lawmakers on Capitol Hill are at odds over whether to halve the Army’s fleet of supply ships as a way to cut costs and promote readiness, our friends at Morning Defense (for Pros!) report. The Army has seven Prepositioned Stock 3 ships around the globe equipped with everything troops need in a conflict, including ammunition, tanks, medical supplies and parts. These floating warehouses are a complement to land-based prepositioned supplies. But in March, Army Chief of Staff Gen. RANDY GEORGE initiated a review as to whether the ships’ stocks should be transferred to land. Army spokesperson Col. DAVE BUTLER stressed that any plans were “pre-decisional” and defended the push. But lawmakers have questions about how those transfers will happen. Talking to our own JOE GOULD, Rep. JOHN GARAMENDI, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Readiness subcommittee, asked: “So how are you going to do this, where are you going to put things — a whole series of questions. How does this fit into your strategy, and then, what comes of those vessels, what comes of the crew?” MACRON’S TROOPS ON THE MOVE? France could announce as soon as next week that it will send military trainers to Ukraine in an effort to shore up Kyiv’s war effort, according to Reuters’ JOHN IRISH. Diplomats told Reuters the training would center around demining, maintaining equipment and providing technical expertise for the use of Western planes. Paris will also support a Ukrainian motorized brigade. The move, which has prompted concern from allies and criticism from Moscow, comes as France has aimed to more forcefully respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. French President EMMANUEL MACRON has floated the possibility of Western troops joining the fight alongside Ukraine, and NATO allies recently expressed openness to sending troops to help train Ukrainian soldiers.
| | GOP’S KHAMENEI FIELD DAY: Republicans on both sides of the Capitol continued to pounce today on tweets from Iran’s top cleric praising pro-Palestinian student protesters at America’s colleges and universities. Late Tuesday, Supreme Leader ALI KHAMENEI issued a flurry of tweets condemning U.S. support of Israel’s war effort in the Gaza Strip and offering his support for protesting students. “Dear university students in the United States of America, you are standing on the right side of history,” the cleric wrote in one X post. “You have now formed a branch of the Resistance Front and have begun an honorable struggle in the face of your government's ruthless pressure - which openly supports Zionists.” The posts invited a lot of dunking from right-leaning and centrist commentators, and lawmakers joined in. Speaker MIKE JOHNSON wrote on X: “When you’ve won the Ayatollah, you’ve lost America.” Other members, including Sens. BILL HAGERTY (R-Tenn.) and MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-Okla.) and Rep. GUY RESCHENTHALER (R-Penn.), flipped the script, saying Khamenei’s praise showed student protestors were on the “wrong side of history.” “Evil will always side with evil,” Rep. CLAUDIA TENNEY (R-N.Y.) wrote on X. LAWMAKERS SLAM PENTAGON MICROSOFT PLAN: A bipartisan duo of senators sent a letter to the Pentagon criticizing its plans to upgrade its Microsoft products without considering all possible technological alternatives, Axios’ SAM SABIN reports. In the letter to the Pentagon’s Chief Information Officer JOHN SHERMAN, Sens. ERIC SCHMITT (R-Mo.) and RON WYDEN (D-Ore.) wrote that while they “welcome the department's decision to invest in greater cybersecurity, we are deeply concerned that DOD is choosing not to pursue a multi-vendor approach that would result in greater competition, lower long-term costs, and better outcomes related to cybersecurity." The senatorial grilling comes as Microsoft, one of the principal cybersecurity and software vendors for the federal government, faces continued scrutiny over security lapses and a Chinese hack that targeted various agencies, including the State Department.
| | NEW WAGNER SANCTIONS: Treasury announced new sanctions today against the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, focusing specifically on the mercenaries’ activities in the Central African Republic. In a statement, Treasury singled out two entities, Mining Industries SARLU and Logistique Economique Etrangere SARLU, for playing “a vital role in enabling Wagner Group security operations and illicit mining operations in CAR.” The Russian mercenary group, which is now more firmly under the control of the Kremlin following the death of warlord YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN last year, has profited off of mining operations in the region to provide it with needed cash for its military endeavors. DON’T SANCTION ISRAEL: Finland wants the EU to keep trading with Israel despite growing calls for sanctions as the humanitarian situation in Gaza worsens, the Nordic country’s trade minister said today. “We have reasons to do so. It’s a high technological country that has industries that the EU should be able to work with. And we also have some defense trade with Israel,” he said, adding that he doubts trade sanctions would change how Israel conducts its military operations, per our own ANTONIA ZIMMERMANN. NO CONDOLENCES TODAY: The United States said it won’t attend a U.N. tribute today for late Iranian President EBRAHIM RAISI, following criticism for expressing “official condolences” for his death earlier this month. “Raisi was involved in numerous, horrific human rights abuses, including the extrajudicial killings of thousands of political prisoners in 1988. Some of the worst human rights abuses on record took place during his tenure,” U.S. Mission to the United Nations spokesperson NATE EVANS said in a statement.
| | | | YOUR DAILY DOWNLOAD ON ALL THINGS TECH: Today marks the 200th episode of the POLITICO Tech podcast! That’s 200 incisive conversations with global policymakers, tech executives, social activists and other influential voices reshaping our world, one algorithm at a time. Join host Steven Overly for a daily dive into the major political and policy battles around artificial intelligence, election disinformation, competition with China, TikTok, microchips and much more. SUBSCRIBE AND LISTEN TODAY via Apple, Spotify, Simplecast or your preferred podcast player. | | | | | | | | | — U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See JOE DONNELLY is stepping down on July 8, our own ADAM WREN scoops. The Indiana Democrat and former U.S. senator was named as Washington’s envoy to the Vatican back in 2021. Rep. NANCY PELOSI (D-Calif.)’s team is already throwing water on the rumors she’ll retire and take the ambassadorship.
| | — JONAS GAHR STØRE, POLITICO: Why we recognized the state of Palestine — AKBAR SHAHID AHMED, Huffington Post: Veteran State Department official says she quit over Biden administration “twisting the facts” on Gaza — CHARLES LISTER, Foreign Policy: The normalizing of Assad has been a disaster
| | | |   | | | | | — United States Institute of Peace, 9:30 a.m.: Huawei's expansion in Latin America and the Caribbean — Atlantic Council, 9:30 a.m.: Serving communities with disability in conflict contexts," focusing on Syria. — Wilson Center's Global Europe Program, 10 a.m.: How to defeat an autocracy? lessons from Ukraine's defense against Russia's invasion" Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who never allows us to defend ourselves. Thanks to our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who always gives us permission to.
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Turn the Entire Battlefield into your Field of Vision
Today's military landscape features systems and platforms engineered for standalone operations. Embracing our 21st Century Security® vision, Lockheed Martin is at the forefront of defense innovation, weaving connections between defense and digital domains. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
