White House officials were clearly angry about the leak, and some said they were worried it would tip off the Russians or interfere with the final decision-making,
The New York Times reports.
The formal orders did not get conveyed to the Pentagon until earlier this week. Mr. Blinken, who knew the change was coming, hinted at the possibility in Moldova, where he left open the possibility that the United States might “adapt and adjust” its stance because the situation on the ground had changed. But he did not say that the president had already reversed course, and White House officials refused to comment.
Mr. Biden has never publicly commented on the internal debate that led him to change his approach. So it is unclear whether he now believes that the risk of escalation — including nuclear escalation — has declined, or whether the prospect that Ukraine might lose more territory changed his view.
So few members of the National Security Council or the Pentagon knew of the change that a Pentagon spokeswoman, Sabrina Singh, was still defending the old policy on Thursday afternoon in a briefing for reporters. She repeatedly said that there was no change. “The security assistance that we provide Ukraine is to be used within Ukraine, and we don’t encourage attacks or enable attacks inside of Russia,” she said.
But she insisted that Ukraine could be effective by focusing on tactical and operational targets that directly influence the conflict within its boundaries, she said. “So our policy hasn’t changed.”
In fact, it had, days before. No one had told her, defense officials say, that Mr. Austin had already released orders to allow Ukraine to open fire, with American weapons, on military targets over the Russian border. U.S. officials now say they expect that the first counterattacks with American weapons will begin within hours or days.
