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In effect, Ukraine can now use American-provided weapons, such as rockets and rocket launchers, to shoot down launched Russian missiles heading toward Kharkiv, at troops massing just over the Russian border near the city, or Russian bombers launching bombs toward Ukrainian territory. But the official said Ukraine cannot use those weapons to hit civilian infrastructure or launch long-range missiles, such as the Army Tactical Missile System, to hit military targets deep inside Russia.

It’s a stunning shift the administration initially said would escalate the war by more directly involving the U.S. in the fight. But worsening conditions for Ukraine on the battlefield –– namely Russia’s advances and improved position in Kharkiv –– led the president to change his mind.

A month ago, the Danish ambassador to Ukraine vowed that Kiev would receive F-16 fighter jets from Denmark this summer. “Don’t worry; there will definitely be airplanes for Ukraine,” Ambassador Ole Egberg Mikkelsen told Ukrainian media at the time. As of 2023, Denmark had 44 total F-16AM and F-16BM fighters, and intended to decommission its entire fleet, in a plan that would see all of them in the end transferred to Ukraine.

But already, at the start of the summer when the aircraft are being prepped for delivery, Denmark is signaling further escalation against Russia. Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen on Thursday announced that Ukraine is authorized to use Danish-supplied F-16 fighter jets to strike targets inside of Russia territory.