A retired U.S. colonel has said Russia has "every right" to attack NATO targets, TASS reports.
Lawrence Wilkerson, a retired colonel who served as chief of staff for former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, made the statement following President Joe Biden's authorization for Ukraine to use Washington-supplied long-range weapons inside Russia, telling the Russian news agency that Ukraine's launch of ATACMS would not be possible without U.S. aid.
For months, Ukraine pushed the Biden administration for authorization to use Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, to conduct deep strikes into Russian territory. The authorization followed North Korea's deployment of more than 10,000 soldiers to the Russian front lines.
Wilkerson told TASS: "[Russian President Vladimir] Putin and [Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov have been explicit—and correct [on the subject]. US/NATO satellite feeds and/or personnel are needed to fire these missiles; therefore, NATO has entered the war. So, Russia has every right under international law to attack NATO targets now."
Newsweek has reached out to Wilkerson via the Eisenhower Media Network, where he serves as a senior fellow, and NATO via a form on its website for comment.
In response to a request for comment, the Pentagon said, "The DoD has no comment on remarks supposedly made by a private citizen to a Russian news outlet."
Wilkerson served 31 years in the Army before moving to the State Department, where he was a special assistant to Powell as the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1989 to 1993 and later became Powell's chief of staff.
Wilkerson's remarks echoed the Kremlin's opinions on the matter. In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that if the West allowed Ukraine to use long-range weapons, it would signify "direct NATO involvement in the war."
Russia also issued a warning to Ukraine regarding its use of ATACMS, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said: "This is, of course, a signal that they want to escalate. We will be taking this as a qualitatively new phase of the Western war against Russia. And we will react accordingly," Al Jazeera reported.
Biden has faced backlash from allies of President-elect Donald Trump over the authorization.
On X, formerly Twitter, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote: "On his way out of office, Joe Biden is dangerously trying to start WWIII by authorizing Ukraine the use of U.S. long range missiles into Russia. The American people gave a mandate on Nov 5th against these exact America last decisions and do NOT want to fund or fight foreign wars. We want to fix our own problems. Enough of this, it must stop."
Donald Trump Jr. also condemned Biden's decision, writing on X: "The Military Industrial Complex seems to want to make sure they get World War 3 going before my father has a chance to create peace and save lives. Gotta lock in those $Trillions. Life be damned!!! Imbeciles!"
Russia also responded to news of Biden's authorization, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying, "It's obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take steps in order to continue fueling the fire and provoking further escalation of tensions."
He continued, "If such a decision was really formulated and announced to the Kyiv regime, then of course it's a qualitatively new spiral of tensions and a qualitatively new situation from the point of view of the U.S.'s engagement in the conflict."
ATACMS, U.S.-made missiles, have a range of 190 miles and are launched from High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, a platform already used by Ukraine.
Ukraine conducted its first strike using ATACMS inside Russia on Tuesday, hitting a munitions storage facility near the western Russia city of Karachev in the Bryansk region.
Putin recently lowered the threshold for a nuclear attack and signed a new nuclear doctrine into law to share Russia's nuclear deterrence with its allies.
Putin's new doctrine replaces earlier decrees and asserts that Russia's primary goal is to exercise nuclear deterrence "against a potential enemy," adding that Moscow views the use of nuclear weapons as an "extreme measure."
The new doctrine also contends that Russia is committed to "making all necessary efforts to reduce the nuclear threat" and in doing so aims to prevent escalating tensions between states that could lead to "military conflicts, including nuclear ones."
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