Ukraine did not inform the United States in advance about its plans to conduct an operation in Russia's Kursk region, Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State Matthew Miller has said, adding that Ukraine makes such decisions on its own.

"We are in communication with the Ukrainians about this particular operation. I believe you mean the operation across the border they launched earlier today. I will leave it to them to speak what kind of operation they are conducting and what their goals are. It's appropriate that they speak to that publicly, and not us," he told a press briefing on Wednesday, August 8.

The spokesperson said he has seen the statements from the Russian government calling the situation "a provocation" and described as "a little bit reach" for Russia given that it violated Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty, and that goes back to 2014, and it continues to illegally occupy Ukrainian territory.

"Ultimately, the decisions about how Ukraine conducts its military operations are decisions that Ukraine makes," Miller said.

He also underlined that "nothing has changed" about the United States' policy with respect to strikes across the border.

"Nothing has changed with respect to the policy that we announced several months ago, with respect to allowing the equipment that we provide be used in strikes across the border or to target Russian military sites across the border. Nothing about that policy has changed," the spokesperson said.