Biden Spends Last Months In Office Gambling Risk Of Nuclear War With Russia

President Joe Biden may just have made his riskiest wager yet in the years-long Russia-Ukraine war — while incoming President Donald Trump continues to call for a swift end to the conflict.

Ukrainian forces launched U.S.-provided long-range missiles into Russian territory on Tuesday after recently receiving approval from Biden officials, though the White House refuses to publicly confirm that it gave Kyiv permission to do so, according to various reports. While it is unclear how U.S. officials are betting the new move will work in Ukraine’s favor, it’s unlikely to quell tensions or make it any easier to end the war in the coming months, something Trump has vowed to do by January.

“It’s essential to understand,” former Pentagon official Elbridge Colby said on Monday, that the Biden administration “is leaving a terrible situation [for Trump].”

Until this weekend, Biden and his administration have refused to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles for deep strikes inside Russia, citing that it would risk escalating the war, prompt Russia to respond erratically and fail to provide Ukraine with any tangible strategic advantage. That changed over the weekend when reports emerged that U.S. officials gave Kyiv the green light to start using American surface-to-surface Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMs) for such strikes, apparently at least in part due to Russia’s decision to deploy North Korean soldiers along the front lines of the war.

While he refused to confirm any details on record, White House National Security Advisor Jon Finer told reporters Sunday that Russia had been “putting fuel on the fire” of the war and that the battlefield conditions were subject to “evolve and change.” (Read more from “Biden Spends Last Months In Office Gambling Risk Of Nuclear War With Russia” HERE)