It is a decision with serious consequences that provokes a lot of reaction. On Sunday, two months before the end of his presidency, US President Joe Biden authorized Ukraine to use US long-range ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) missiles to strike Russia. Information revealed by the New York Times and since confirmed by the AFP, which is shaking up chancelleries around the world.
For Russia, the decision is likely to “throw fuel on the fire”
The most scrutinized reaction, that of Russia, is obviously angry. This Monday, November 18, the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, estimated that if it were to be officially confirmed by Washington, this authorization would lead to “a fundamentally new situation in terms of US involvement in this conflict.” Because according to the doctrine previously stated by Vladimir Putin, strikes on Russian territory with foreign missiles would be considered by Moscow as attacks. «[non] not carried out by Ukraine, but by the countries which give authorization”. “The coordinates of the targets are not provided by the Ukrainian military, but by specialists from these Western countries. This radically changes the nature of their involvement. repeated Dmitri Peskov on Monday.
For Moscow, “It is obvious that the outgoing administration in Washington intends to take measures to continue to add fuel to the fire and provoke a further rise in tensions.” In September, Vladimir Putin warned that such a Western green light “would mean nothing less than direct involvement of NATO countries in the war in Ukraine.”
China calls for peace
A discreet ally of Russia, China again called for peace in Ukraine this Monday, without reacting to the substance of the American decision. “A rapid ceasefire and a political solution are in the interest of all parties,” was content to declare the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Jian, questioned on this subject during a press conference. “The most urgent thing is to encourage an appeasement of the situation as quickly as possible,” he said.
China often presents itself as a neutral country regarding the war in Ukraine and assures that it does not sell lethal equipment to the belligerents. Beijing nevertheless remains a major economic and political ally of Moscow and has never condemned the Russian offensive. “China has always encouraged and supported all efforts towards a peaceful resolution of the crisis,” continued Lin Jian, adding that Beijing had the will to “continue to play a constructive role […] in his own way” with this in mind.
For Paris, the use of French missiles by Ukraine remains “an option”
France reacted through its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot. Far from condemning the American decision, he reaffirmed this Monday that the use of French missiles by Ukrainian forces on Russian soil remained “an option”. “You heard President Macron in Meseberg (Germany) on May 25, where we openly said that it was an option that we were taking into consideration, if it was necessary to authorize strikes on targets from which the Russians are attacking the territory Ukrainian”, he said, in English, upon his arrival in Brussels for a meeting of foreign ministers. “So, nothing new under the sun,” he added.
France has supplied medium-range Scalp-type surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine, but has always refused to indicate how many had been delivered and whether they had been used by Ukrainian forces.
Other European countries between support and reluctance
In the rest of Europe, the American decision is received differently. Poland, a fierce supporter of Kyiv, estimated that, following “entry into war North Korean troops and to the massive Russian missile attack, President Biden responded with language that Vladimir Putin understands. It was the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Radoslaw Sikorski, who posted these words on Sunday evening on X, adding: “The victim of an attack has the right to defend himself.”
The reaction is much more timid in Rome, which reaffirmed this Monday that Italian weapons supplied to Kyiv “can only be used within Ukrainian territory”. The Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani, recalled this Monday in Brussels, specifying that his country's position “don’t change”. Antonio Tajani also declared “favorable to a peace conference in the presence of the Russians, Chinese, Indians and Brazilians”.
At this time, the official reactions of the United Kingdom and Germany are not known. That of Berlin will be particularly followed after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's call to Vladimir Putin on Friday.
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