While we talk about peace, the Ukrainian offensive is becoming more ferocious. The United States has authorized kyiv forces to use long-range missiles – the famous ATACMS – against Russia, American media reported this Sunday. Until now, American President Joe Biden had always refused the use of these weapons for “deep strikes inside Russia”.
The weapons will likely be used initially against Russian and North Korean troops to defend Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region of western Russia, US officials told the New York Times, calling it “a major change in American politics.
According to the American press, which cites officials, the decision was taken to step up the Ukrainian attack when North Korea entered the conflict. According to Washington and Seoul, thousands of North Korean soldiers are deployed in Ukraine, alongside the Russian army, particularly in the Kursk region.
The Netherlands had already authorized kyiv in mid-September to use long-range weapons on Russian soil, encouraging Ukraine's allies to do the same. But it was a taboo subject. It is “one of the last red lines and a psychological milestone that is difficult for Westerners to cross,” analyzed Ulrich Bounat, a specialist in the region, at the end of August in Paris, “they are necessarily afraid that the Russians will consider it an act of war.” . Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that such a decision would mean that “the NATO countries are at war with Russia”.
In his campaign to return to the White House, Donald Trump has been quick to criticize the tens of billions of dollars released for Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. The president-elect, who will take office on January 20, promised to resolve this conflict “in 24 hours”, without ever explaining how. Ukraine fears a weakening of American support, at a time when its troops are in difficulty on the front, or that an agreement involving territorial concessions to Russia will be imposed on it.
