President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles to strike deeper inside Russia, easing limitations on the weapons as Russia deploys thousands of North Korean troops to reinforce its war.

Biden’s move also follows the presidential election victory of Donald Trump, who has said he would bring about a swift end to the war and raised uncertainty about whether his administration would continue the United States’ vital military support for Ukraine.

The official and the others knowledgeable about the matter were not authorized to discuss the U.S. decision publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s reaction Sunday was notably restrained. “Strikes are not made with words,” he said during his nightly video address. “Such things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves.” Zelensky and many of his Western supporters have been pressing Biden for months to allow Ukraine to strike military targets deeper inside Russia with Western-supplied missiles, saying the U.S. ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids.

The official and others familiar with the situation were not authorized to discuss the U.S. decision publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s reaction on Sunday was noticeably reserved.

Zelensky and many of his Western supporters have been pressing Biden for months to allow Ukraine to strike military targets deeper inside Russia with Western-supplied missiles, saying the U.S. ban had made it impossible for Ukraine to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids. Zelensky’s statement came shortly after he posted a message of condolence on Telegram following a Russian attack on a nine-story building that killed at least eight people in the northern city of Sumy, 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the border with Russia. Russia also launched a massive drone and missile attack, described by officials as the largest in recent months, targeting energy infrastructure and killing civilians. The attack came as fears are mounting about Moscow’s intentions to devastate Ukraine’s power generation capacity before the winter.“And this is the answer to everyone who tried to achieve something with Putin through talks, phone calls, hugs and appeasement,” Zelensky said.

The comment appeared to be a dig at German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who spoke Friday with Putin in the first such call with a sitting head of a major Western power in nearly two years

Subscribe Search… Sections Home U.S. Politics World Health Climate Future of Work by Charter Business Tech Entertainment Ideas Science History Sports Magazine TIME 2030 Next Generation Leaders TIME100 Leadership Series TIME Studios Video TIME100 Talks TIMEPieces The TIME Vault TIME for Health TIME for Kids TIME Edge TIMECO2 Red Border: Branded Content by TIME Coupons Personal Finance by TIME Stamped Shopping by TIME Stamped Join Us Newsletters Subscribe Give a Gift Shop the TIME Store TIME Cover Store Digital Magazine Customer Care US & Canada Global Help Center Reach Out Careers Press Room Contact the Editors Media Kit Reprints and Permissions More About Us Privacy Policy Your Privacy Rights Terms of Use Modern Slavery Statement Site Map Connect with Us World conflict Biden Authorizes Ukraine to use their arms to attack Russian territory. News of Biden’s decision followed meetings over the last two days with the leaders of South Korea, Japan and China. The addition of North Korean troops was central to the talks, which took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.

Biden made no mention of the decision during a speech at a stop in Brazil’s Amazon jungle on his way to the G20 conference. When asked about the decision, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters that the U.N.’s goal is “to avoid a permanent deterioration of the war in Ukraine.” “We want peace, and we want fair peace,” Guterres said Sunday, ahead of the conference in Rio de Janeiro. He did not elaborate.

North Korea has sent thousands of troops to Russia to assist Moscow reclaim land in the Kursk border region, which Ukraine seized earlier this year. The addition of North Korean troops to the fight comes as Moscow experiences a positive shift in momentum. Trump has hinted that he may press Ukraine to agree to give up some land captured by Russia in order to resolve the conflict. According to estimates from the United States, South Korea, and Ukraine, up to 12,000 North Korean personnel have been deployed in Russia. According to US and South Korean intelligence officials, North Korea has also provided Russia with considerable amounts of ammunition to replenish its depleted weapon stocks.

Trump, who takes office in January, spent months as a candidate talking about wanting Russia’s war in Ukraine to end, but he generally avoided questions about whether he wanted US ally Ukraine to win.

He also attacked the Biden administration for providing Kyiv with tens of billions of dollars in aid. His win has Ukraine’s international supporters concerned that any hurried settlement will only favour Putin. America is Ukraine’s most important ally in the war, having provided more than $56.2 billion in security support since Russian forces invaded in February 2022. Concerned about Russia’s retaliation, however, Biden The administration has frequently delayed supplying some of the advanced weapons sought by Ukraine, only consenting after being pressured by Kyiv and its sponsors and consulting with friends. This includes initially denying Zelensky’s requests for upgraded tanks, Patriot air defence systems, and F-16 fighter jets, among other things. In May, the White House allowed Ukraine to employ US-supplied weapons in limited operations just beyond the Russian border.