WASHINGTON >> The United States said Monday that it was Russia that was escalating the conflict in Ukraine by deploying North Korean troops, after the Kremlin warned that Washington would deepen its involvement in the war by allowing Kiev’s forces to enter. strike far into Russia with American troops. weapons made.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller declined to confirm in a briefing that the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden had decided to authorize the strikes, but reiterated that the U.S. “will always adapt and adapt the capabilities we provide to Ukraine when appropriate. ”

Reuters reported on Sunday that the Biden administration has decided to allow Ukraine to carry out the attacks, a move that US officials spoke on condition of anonymity and said was in response to the presence of North Korean troops in the conflict .

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the outgoing government was adding fuel to the fire and trying to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told a Security Council meeting on Monday, citing media reports, that the Biden administration had “given suicidal permission to Zelenskiy to use long-range weapons to attack inside Russia.”

“Maybe Joe Biden has nothing left to lose for many reasons, but we are amazed at the short-sightedness of the leaders of Britain and France,” he said.

“They are eager to play into the hands of the outgoing government and are dragging not only their countries, but the whole of Europe, into a large-scale escalation with drastic consequences,” Nebenzia added.

Miller said earlier on Monday that it was Russia that had repeatedly escalated the conflict, citing the 11,000 North Korean troops the US says have deployed and clashed with Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk region.

“That is a major escalation of Russia bringing in an Asian military into a conflict within Europe,” Miller said, adding that the U.S. response would be decisive. “We will continue to do what is appropriate to hold Russia accountable for its actions, including its escalating actions, and to hold North Korea accountable for its escalating actions.”

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told reporters at the United Nations that the presence of North Korean troops was a “major, major escalation” and vowed to put Ukraine in the strongest possible position.