American officials believe the calculus over both missiles has changed after Iran shipped long-range weapons to Russia. Asked about the issue on Tuesday, Mr Biden said: “We are working that out right now.”
On a visit to Kyiv on Wednesday, Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, said he had discussed the missiles and would “take that discussion back to Washington to brief the president”.
However, intelligence sources told the New York Times that Mr Biden is unlikely to give permission for Ukraine to use both Storm Shadows and ATACMS yet amid concerns about escalation by Putin.
After the Storm Shadows approval, a further decision on ATACMS could take weeks.
John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, said there would be no change to US policy on long-range missiles on Friday but did not rule out an announcement at a later date.
“There is no change to our view on the provision of long-range strike capabilities for Ukraine to use inside Russia … for all the reasons that we said before,” he said. “I wouldn’t be looking for an announcement today on the long-range strike capabilities inside Russia.”
US intelligence suggests that allowing American-made missiles to be fired on Russian targets could prompt the Kremlin to step up its support for Iran and its proxies in the Middle East, which are engaged in an ongoing conflict with Israel.
It could also escalate the conflict in Ukraine, where both sides are locked in battle over territory in the eastern Donbas region.
On Thursday, Putin said allowing Western weapons to be used inside Russia would bring Nato into direct conflict with Russia. “We are not talking about allowing or not allowing the Ukrainian regime to strike Russia with these weapons,” he said. “We are talking about deciding whether Nato countries are directly involved in the military conflict or not.”