"We supported": State Department comments on the actions of the Armed Forces in Kursk region and responds to Putin's threats

The United States Department of State said it supports the advance of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the Kursk region. They emphasized that this operation is aimed at self-defense.

At the same time, the decision to conduct operations on the territory of the aggressor country is made exclusively by Ukraine. Deputy State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said this at a briefing in Washington on August 12.

According to him, the United States is focused on ensuring that Ukraine has the necessary weapons to defend itself against full-scale Russian aggression. As for the strikes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces with American weapons deep into Russian territory, the White House still does not give permission for this, despite the requests of the Ukrainian authorities, Patel said.

He emphasized that "nothing has changed in the US policy on strikes across the border."

When asked how Washington assesses the advance of the Defense Forces in Kursk, the State Department spokesman said that Ukraine will talk about its operations, but added that the United States supports the Armed Forces.

"But in general, we have supported Ukrainian troops who can defend themselves from attacks by Russian forces coming from abroad, to take measures to protect themselves from these attacks. That, as President Biden says, would be common sense," Patel said.

Regarding Russian dictator Putin's threats of a "response" to the Ukrainian Armed Forces' operation in Kursk region, the representative of the department reminded that this is not the first time that such rhetoric has been heard from the Russian president.

He emphasized that Putin launched an illegal invasion of Ukraine and if he does not like the way the country defends itself, he can simply withdraw his troops and end the war.

As OBOZ.UA reported, earlier the White House also advised Putin to withdraw his occupation troops from Ukraine if he was concerned about the situation in the Kursk region. The head of the Kremlin was reminded that he is the aggressor in this war, and Ukraine is defending itself against the attack.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!