Biden said American weapons would not be used to strike Moscow and the Kremlin

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said in an interview Thursday that U.S. weapons would not be used to strike Moscow and the Kremlin as he commemorated the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy.

During an interview with ABC News anchor David Muir, Biden was asked whether American weapons were being used inside Russia. Biden recently authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons to return fire against Russian forces attacking them near the Kharkiv region.

"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. "We're not authorizing strikes 200 miles into Russia and we're not authorizing strikes on Moscow, on the Kremlin."

Muir then asked Biden about a statement that Russian President Vladimir Putin made 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.

“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…Ukrainians,” he added.

Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden said U.S. weapons would not be used to strike Moscow, Kremlin