Joe Biden sent a message on Sunday by authorizing Ukraine to use long-range ATACMS missiles donated by the United States. The question, asks the Corriere della Sera, Who is the American president really sending this message to: Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump, his successor in the White House?
“Mr Biden’s decision is a major shift in American policy”summarizes it New York Times. His choice “divided his advisors”specifies the daily, while kyiv had been waiting for the green light from Washington for months. The arrival of 10,000 North Korean soldiers on the front, “a surprise decision from Russia”motivated the American leader, indicates the Times.
Son administration “also undermines Donald Trump’s intentions to reach a peace deal very favorable to Russia”comments The World. “For what ? If Ukraine manages to keep the areas it controls in the Kursk region until January 20, the date of Trump’s inauguration and the day announced by the president-elect to negotiate directly with Putin, the Russian autocrat will not be able to not maintain his criterion of imposing the ‘new territorial realities’ born from the invasion, because they should include, even if it bothers him, this part of Kursk as a Ukrainian conquest”explains the Spanish newspaper.
For the Corriere della SeraJoe Biden thus recalls “to America and the world that for another 63 days, he is the president, even if everyone acts as if Trump is already in government”. And he indirectly warns Mr. Putin that “for 63 days, the commander-in-chief of the world’s leading superpower can still harm him”.
Europe should follow
We must also see in this decision “a familiar pattern”suggests CNN. The United States took months to grant Ukrainian requests for these ATACMS missiles, “fearing an escalation”notes the American channel. kyiv complained about it and just when the idea was more or less buried, the White House finally approved it. CNN observes that deliveries of Abrams tanks, F16s and HIMARS rocket launchers followed a similar path.
But these successive hesitations “caused frustration in kyiv”reports the Washington Post. “When soldiers finally receive weapons or are finally allowed to use them, military advantage has often diminished because conditions on the battlefield have changed, leading to avoidable deaths and setbacks.”.
Anyway, these missiles “are unlikely to significantly alter the conflict”insists Wall Street Journal, relying on the words of Western officials. The Russians will move their equipment beyond their range of around 300 kilometers and the Ukrainians only have a few hundred at their disposal.
In return, note the BBC, now that the Americans have given the green light, the French and British should in turn let the Ukrainians fire Storm Shadow missiles into enemy territory. “In September, Vladimir Putin warned that NATO would enter into direct conflict with Russia if Ukraine used long-range missiles to strike Russia”reports the British media. “These threats will soon be put to the test”.
