The Kremlin has responded to Joe Biden’s alleged permission for Ukraine to use US-supplied weapons to launch attacks on Russian territory.

Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, said such a decision would escalate tensions and deepen U.S. involvement in the war.

“It is clear that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps to fan the flames and provoke further escalation of tensions,” he told radio station Mayak.

“If such a decision was actually formulated and announced to the regime in Kiev, then of course it is a qualitatively new spiral of tensions and a qualitatively new situation from the point of view of US involvement in the conflict.”

Ukraine has for months sought US permission to carry out long-range strikes on Russian territory, but the White House previously resisted, citing concerns about an escalation of the conflict.

Last month, Putin said that allowing the use of Western long-range missiles against Russia would mean “NATO’s direct involvement in the war.”

But since then, Putin’s forces have been reinforced by thousands of North Korean troops in the Kursk region, where Ukraine launched an incursion in August.

This may have shifted the calculus in Washington, with the New York Times report that ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) missiles are likely to be used against the Russian operation in this part of the front.

This is a breaking story. More to follow.