1 A favor to Ukraine before Trump arrives at the White House
If Washington had previously refused to give the green light, for fear of an escalation with Moscow, the election of Donald Trump and his upcoming arrival at the White House have reshuffled the cards. The future president of the United States did not hide his criticism during the campaign of the tens of billions of dollars released by Joe Biden for Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022.
While Donald Trump promised to resolve the conflict “in 24 hours”, without ever explaining how, kyiv fears that his inauguration on January 20 will signal the weakening of American support.
2 On the ground, welcome help for Ukraine
An announcement that would come at the worst time. On the ground, Ukrainian troops are in difficulty facing Russian advances. And this Sunday, a large-scale attack carried out by the Russian army against Ukrainian energy infrastructure caused numerous power cuts, forcing the authorities to plan “restrictive measures” on electricity consumption throughout its territory this Monday .
With Donald Trump coming to power and the opening of negotiations on a ceasefire, Moscow is working hard to seize certain territories. With a major target: Donbass. The Russian army is advancing to conquer as much ground as possible, with Ukrainian soldiers speaking of “a human tide”. An advance which comes at the cost of heavy human losses for Russia.
3 For Vladimir Putin, a red line
If the possibility of using American long-range missiles on Russian territory was a long-standing request of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, it was also a red line set by Vladimir Putin. “This would change the nature of the conflict,” said the Russian president in September, for whom this would be a sign of “direct involvement of NATO countries in the war in Ukraine,” threatening a war with the Alliance. Atlantic.
For kyiv, this authorization will make it possible to target Russian army logistics sites and airfields from which Moscow's bombers take off. The attack suffered this weekend, carried out by drones and missiles, could in particular have been more difficult to carry out. They are expected to be used in Russia's Kursk region, where North Korean troops have come to support Russian soldiers.
