President Joe Biden has authorized the first-time use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine to strike deeper inside Russia than previously allowed. This latest easing of restrictions by Biden is meant to keep the war from spiraling further out of control, according to a U.S. official and others familiar with the matter, reports The Associated Press.  

The decision to authorize the new use of these missiles, the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMs, is apparently in response to the decision and employment of North Korean troops being used to support Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The timing of the authorization raises questions over whether this has anything to do with Donald Trump, who has expressed his intent to try to quickly end the war when he moves back into the White House on January 20 of next year. 

The New York Times is reporting that these weapons, long requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, will initially be used against Russian and North Korean troops and to defend Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region of western Russia. 

This is clearly a major change in U.S. policy, a choice that has divided his advisers. Some of them fear that this could lead to an expanded war, and possibly even retaliation with force against the U.S. and some of its coalition partners.