The Biden administration’s sudden lame-duck approval of Ukraine using U.S. longer-range missiles to attack deep inside Russia leaves many scratching their heads in disbelief, some even speculating that the outgoing president seems intent on starting World War III – all to disrupt the coming administration of Donald Trump.

With only two months remaining in office, Biden has authorized Ukraine to use Lockheed Martin’s Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) rockets, which have a range of up to 190 miles and are designed to strike deep into enemy territory.

And indeed, for the first time in the 33-months-long war, Ukraine is firing the U.S.-supplied missiles deep into Russia.

In response, Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, has signed a new nuclear doctrine stipulating that any attack on Russia, if that attack is supported by a nation with nuclear weapons, could serve as grounds for a nuclear response from Russia.

In other words, the use of nuclear weapons in the Russia-Ukraine war has suddenly become potentially much more imminent.

Putin’s new nuclear policy came one day after Biden authorized Ukraine to attack Russia with American-made longer-range missiles.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov argues that Ukraine’s use of the American missiles will “continue adding fuel to the fire and provoking further escalation of tensions around this conflict.” And, concedes the Associated Press, “Biden’s shift in policy adds an uncertain new factor to the conflict on the eve of the 1,000-day milestone since Russia began its full-scale invasion in 2022.”

What is really going on? Some U.S. military members are outspoken regarding what they see as the real reasons for Biden’s sudden escalation. One of them, Army Lt. Col. Darin Gaub, a former UH-60 Blackhawk pilot and co-founder of Restore Liberty, told WorldNetDaily: “This entirely has to do with trying to tie Trump’s hands to a war, dampening his ability to achieve the agenda that the American people want him to achieve.” According to Gaub, “This has been in the [Left’s] plan for quite a while, in anticipation of the landslide victory that occurred earlier this month.”

A “world on fire” for the Trump presidency is something Gaub predicted in an Oct. 6 Substack article. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine is only one of the contributors to the chaos that lies ahead.

Gaub told WND it’s not about Biden attempting to extend his stay in the White House as some have suggested, because “he would have to declare an emergency that precluded the country’s ability to hold an election or hold a change of leadership.” He also pointed out that “we’ve successfully changed out leadership in much bigger wars,” including World War II.

For Gaub, “The idea is really just to disrupt the future of Trump’s presidency.” Rather than trying to stop the transition of power on Jan. 20, he said, “The powers-that-be are attempting to put Trump in a position where he has to deal with a mega conflict which could derail some of what he wants to accomplish at the start of his second term and beyond.”

To that end, Gaub added, “The American people must remember that we’re dealing with people [on the Left] for whom the rules are sometimes a mild inconvenience.”

Interestingly, in July Trump said he could end the war between Russia and Ukraine in one day. While Russia’s United Nations ambassador is skeptical, Gaub suggests that, “based on his previous record, we should give him the chance even if it seems unrealistic for some.”