Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slammed the Biden-Harris administration for continuing to provide Ukraine with long-range missiles Saturday and argued it was a significant escalation of the conflict.
Kennedy called out Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Biden in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. He made the comment in reference to reports that the United States is set to approve Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles to strike inside Russia.
“Secretary Blinken, President Biden — STOP IT! Stop this reckless escalation. I say this not an apolitical partisan, but simply as a citizen of the world,” wrote Kennedy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said his regime will “take appropriate decisions based on the threats.”
The U.S., along with other Western nations, have blocked Ukraine from using NATO-supplies weapons in attacks on Russian territory and demanded they only be used for defensive purposes.
However, since then, Ukraine has launched numerous incursions into Russia in an attempt to turn the tide of the war. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, has additionally been pushing NATO and the U.S. to remove the targeting restrictions for months.
But on Thursday, Putin drew a red line and said, “This will mean that NATO countries, the U.S., and European countries are at war with Russia.”
“And if this is so, then, bearing in mind the change in the very essence of this conflict, we will make appropriate decisions based on the threats that will be created for us,” added Putin, according to NBC News’ posted translation.
Putin continues to threaten the Biden-Harris administration
Russian President Putin has made threats of conflict with NATO and the U.S. throughout his invasion of Ukraine and warned Western powers to keep out of it. Support internationally for Ukraine has turned the invasion into a costly one for Putin.
“Putin’s war in Ukraine has been a massive failure — hundreds of thousands of casualties, a brain drain, a million Russians have fled, Sweden and Finland are now NATO members, the list goes on,” said Dan Hoffman, former CIA Moscow station chief. “The only thing he succeeded at was rhetorical nuclear brinkmanship and other threats, trying to induce the Biden administration not to give Ukraine what they need, when they need it, to defend themselves.”
Hoffman explained that Putin’s remarks were likely tailored to Biden’s administration. The administration has consistently been slow to send Ukraine defense equipment that is desperately needed, like F-16s, long-range ATACMS missiles, and tanks, before reversing course and eventually agreeing to send the top weaponry.
“He makes these threats because he knows they work,” argued Hoffman. “We shouldn’t micromanage how [Ukrainians] conduct their war.”
