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US President Joe Biden has said he is reviewing a request from Ukraine to use US weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory.

Biden’s admission on Tuesday came at a time when his administration is divided on whether to allow the use of American weapons, with the State Department, which is more receptive to Kyiv’s request, taking a stand against the Pentagon and U.S. intelligence agencies.

“We’re working that out right now,” Biden said when asked by reporters whether he would allow Ukraine to use the U.S. Army’s Long-Range Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to attack targets in Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called for lifting restrictions on long-range weapons supplied from the West so his military can attack Russian airfields and missile launch sites, as well as ammunition depots, fuel depots and command and control centers that are critical to Moscow’s war.

In recent months, Washington has moved away from a general ban on attacking Russian territory with US-supplied weapons and has allowed Ukraine to use these weapons for defensive strikes.

But Zelensky is pushing the United States and other Western countries to allow the deployment of long-range weapons deep inside Russia, part of his strategy to increase the cost of the invasion for President Vladimir Putin.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is travelling to Ukraine this week with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy to meet with Zelensky, discuss his request and show his support for their ally.

Ahead of the visit, Blinken told a press conference in London: “We will listen carefully to our Ukrainian partners. We will both report to the (British) Prime Minister and President Biden in the coming days.” He added that Biden would discuss the matter with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his visit to Washington on Friday.

Britain has called on the US to give Ukraine permission to deploy its Western allies’ long-range weapons deep inside Russia and believes Kiev is allowed to attack Russian sites and assets. For Ukraine to use UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles for long-range strikes inside Russia, US approval is needed.

While the US State Department is more open to the arguments of Ukraine and many of its Western allies, the Pentagon and US intelligence agencies warn against using long-range weapons deep inside Russia.

The latter recently estimated that 90 percent of Russian aircraft had been relocated to airfields at least 300 kilometers from Ukrainian-controlled territory and beyond the range of ATACMS.

“I don’t think any one capability is going to be the deciding factor… we know that the Russians have actually moved their aircraft that use glide bombers beyond the range of Atacms,” U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said last week at a meeting of the Ukraine Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

He added that Ukraine could use drones and other domestically produced weapons to attack strategic targets in Russia.

U.S. defense officials say Kyiv should prioritize using Western weapons to defend Ukraine’s eastern and northern regions, maintain access to the Black Sea and put pressure on Russian forces in Crimea, the peninsula annexed by Putin in 2014.