Volodymyr Zelensky wants for the moment to keep a cool head in the face of very favorable news for kyiv from Washington. The Ukrainian president thus cautiously welcomed on Sunday the information according to which the White House now authorized Ukraine to strike Russia with the long-range missiles it supplies.
The United States “has given the green light to the use of long-range missiles,” an American official said on Sunday. This major strategic change by Joe Biden, a few weeks before Donald Trump came to power, had been requested by Ukraine for a long time.
For Zelensky, “the missiles will speak for themselves”
President Zelensky did not fail to raise this subject during his daily address on Sunday evening, without however directly confirming it. Recalling the importance of his army's “long-range capability”, he noted that “today, many media outlets are reporting that we have received authorization to take appropriate measures.” “But strikes are not carried out using words. Things like this are not announced,” Volodymyr Zelensky continued. “The missiles will speak for themselves.”
This announcement occurs shortly before the departure of Joe Biden from the White House, and the return of Republican Donald Trump, very critical of American aid to Ukraine. kyiv fears that the future president will cut funding essential to its war effort or try to force Ukraine into a deal with Russia.
Putin's warning
Volodymyr Zelensky has for months been demanding authorization to use British Storm Shadow missiles and American ATACMS missiles to hit targets further inside Russian territory. These weapons with a maximum range of several hundred kilometers would allow Ukraine to reach logistical sites of the Russian army and airfields from which its bombers take off.
Our file on the War in Ukraine
But several countries, including the United States, have until now refused to give such a green light, for fear of an escalation with Moscow. It must be said that the master of the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, had warned that such a decision would mean that “the NATO countries are at war with Russia”.
