President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday formally lowered the threshold for Russia’s use of its nuclear weapons, a move that follows U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine strike targets inside Russian territory with American-supplied longer-range missiles.

A pair of powerful congressional Republicans on Sunday blasted the Biden administration for waiting months to allow Ukraine to use long-range U.S. weapons inside Russia. The reported lifting of the restrictions on the Army Tactical Missile System “does not excuse the administration’s deliberate slow-walking of items and assistance long authorized by Congress for use against [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal aggression,

President Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to fire U.S.-made and supplied missiles deeper into Russia — a major policy shift announced over the weekend after months of intense lobbying by Kyiv — has drawn a furious response from Moscow.

Joe Biden’s decision to let Ukraine hit targets inside Russia failed to galvanize broader allied support for Kyiv, in a sign of the outgoing president’s waning influence.