Politics

Exclusive: Biden tells Muir US weapons will not be used to strike Moscow, Kremlin

Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on June 6, 2024

(NEW YORK) — President Joe Biden was adamant that U.S. weapons would not be used to strike Moscow or the Kremlin after he authorized Ukraine to use them in Russia during an exclusive interview with ABC News anchor David Muir at the Normandy American Cemetery on the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

Muir asked Biden if U.S.-made weapons have already been used in Russia since he signed off on their use, limiting use to areas near the Russian-occupied Kharkiv region. The president did not directly answer, but made clear they would not be used to target Russia’s capital city or seat of government.

“They’re authorized to be used in proximity to the border when they’re being used on the other side of the border to attack specific targets in Ukraine,” Biden told Muir of U.S. weapons. “We’re not authorizing strikes 200 miles into Russia and we’re not authorizing strikes on Moscow, on the Kremlin.”

Muir asked the president about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s comments overnight, that “the supply of high-precision weapons to Ukraine for strikes on Russian territory is direct participation in this war.”

“Does that concern you?” Muir asked Biden.

“I’ve known him for over 40 years. He’s concerned me for 40 years. He’s not a decent man,” Biden said. “He’s a dictator, and he’s struggling to make sure he holds his country together while still keeping this assault going. We’re not talking about giving them weapons to strike Moscow, to strike the Kremlin, to strike against– just across the border, where they’re receiving significant fire from conventional weapons used by the Russians to go into Ukraine to kill ra– Ukrainians.”

For more from Muir’s interview with President Biden, watch ABC’s “World News Tonight with David Muir” at 6:30 p.m. ET.

Biden is in France to commemorate the day Allied forces stormed the beaches of Normandy in 1944, setting off a chain of events that led to the fall of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II. Later Thursday, Biden plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the war effort.