Ukraine wants to use American weapons to strike Russian territory. The United States, so far against this hypothesis in the war against Russia, is considering the green light in Kiev.
The ongoing debate at the White House may produce a turning point in the conflict, which is experiencing a crucial phase with Moscow’s offensive in the Kharkiv region with the aim of creating a buffer zone: as repeated by President Vladimir Putin, Russia aims to create a security zone that forces Ukrainian forces to retreat and makes it impossible for Kiev to hit enemy positions with artillery.
Ukraine, however, has had the new Atacms missiles supplied by the US at its disposal for over a month: the weapons have characteristics capable of hitting targets 300 km away. Therefore, they could inflict damage far beyond the border and heavily influence Moscow’s plans and maneuvers.
USA, green light in Kiev to strike in Russia?
According to what the New York Times wrote, quoting American officials on condition of anonymity, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pushing to make this possible and therefore the taboo falls that US President Joe Biden had imposed at the beginning of the war.
Blinken’s position strengthened after his latest visit to Kiev and after the Russians launched a new offensive in northeastern Ukraine towards Kharkiv, the second-largest Ukrainian city after the capital.
“Led by the State Department, there is a heated debate within the Administration about easing the ban to allow the Ukrainians to strike missile and artillery launch sites just across the Russian border,” the New York Times. But ”it is unclear how many of Biden’s colleagues support” this line.
Moscow threatens Washington
The hypothesis is concrete, judging by Russia’s vehement reaction. Soon, Moscow warned Washington: “This position is absolutely irresponsible, it is absolutely dangerous in its consequences,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Russian state television.
In Washington, but also in some European capitals, escalation is constantly being provoked, Peskov said. There are “hotheads in the United States who see it as their job to continue adding fuel to the fire.”
“It is now clear to all experts that no weapon is capable of somehow reversing the situation in the zone of the special military operation,” he added. On the contrary, arms supplies are prolonging the war for the Ukrainians, Peskov said. The US State Department neither confirmed nor denied the news reported by the New York Times.
Zelensky pressing
The topic has a central role in the war context, also in light of the latest events: yet another Russian attack on Kharkiv has caused deaths and injuries. “Every time such attacks occur, destroying our cities and villages, ruining lives, burning books and everything that preserves humanity, we must say openly why this is still possible. It is only because Ukraine still has restrictions in its defense“, the words of President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“It is because of the shortage of actually available air defense systems in the world. It is because of the lack of long-range “weapons” for our fighters and the complete inability to destroy the very source of Russian terror near our borders, including missile launchers that hit Ukraine and the lives of our people.”
“The vast majority of the world perceives the threat of terrorism the same way: people always want solid protection from terrorists and fair punishment for their deadly attacks. And every nation would perceive restrictions in the fight against terrorism as wrong and unjust. For defend lives, we must have all the necessary tools available to truly defeat terrorists,” Zelensky said. “We need greater efforts, greater determination – the determination of world leaders – to ensure that Russian terrorism ultimately loses,” he said in yet another appeal.
