The “survival” of Ukraine at stake. Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Tuesday of the risk of defeat against Moscow in the event of an end to aid from the United States, at a time when the firing of American ATACM missiles on Russian territory raises fears of a new escalation.
“If they cut (the aid), I think we will lose,” the Ukrainian leader said in an interview on Fox News, the conservatives' favorite American channel. “Of course, in any case, we will stay, we will fight. We have our production. But it's not enough to win. And I think that’s not enough to survive,” he added, emphasizing the importance of “unity” between Ukraine and the United States.
After 1,000 days of war, Moscow promised an “appropriate” response after the attack carried out by Ukraine on its soil during the night from Monday to Tuesday and announced that the possibilities of using nuclear weapons were thus expanded , a rhetoric denounced by Westerners.
A risk of “world war three”
While on the ground Russian troops are advancing on several sectors of the front, kyiv and its European allies are worried about the consequences of the return to power on January 20 of Donald Trump, very skeptical of the billions that the administration of Current President Joe Biden has granted grants to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.
A senior American official told AFP that the United States would also provide Ukraine with “non-persistent antipersonnel mines,” that is, those equipped with a self-destruct or self-deactivation device to prevent them from posing a danger for generations after the end of the war to strengthen its defenses against the Russian invasion.
During his campaign, Donald Trump repeatedly promised to quickly end the war, without specifying how. On Monday, his bodyguards even denounced an “escalation” or even a risk of “world war three” after Joe Biden’s decision on Sunday to authorize Ukraine to strike on Russian territory with American-made long-range missiles.
“Don’t give in to fear”
The Ukrainian attack on Tuesday morning, according to the Russian army, targeted military installations in the Bryansk region, not far from the Ukrainian border. Five projectiles were destroyed. These shots were confirmed to AFP by a Ukrainian official speaking on condition of anonymity, even if the head of state Volodymyr Zelensky limited himself to saying that his country had these missiles and would “ use them.”
The head of Russian diplomacy Sergei Lavrov, for his part, judged, on the sidelines of the G20 in Rio de Janeiro, that this sent “a signal” according to which Ukraine and the West “want escalation”. This is “a new phase in the Western war against Russia and we will react accordingly,” he insisted. For him, these precise missiles supplied by the United States cannot be used by kyiv “without the help of American experts and instructors”.
VideoCan American ATACMS shake Russia?
In response, Sergei Lavrov invited Westerners to “read the entirety” of the new Russian nuclear doctrine, made official on Tuesday by Vladimir Putin, which expands the possibility of using atomic weapons in the event of a “massive” attack by a non-nuclear country but supported by a nuclear power. A clear reference to Ukraine and the United States.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriï Sybiga called for people to “keep a cool head” and “not give in to fear”. Washington, London and the European Union have denounced “irresponsible rhetoric” on the part of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Emmanuel Macron, for his part, deplored an “escalatory” posture on the part of Russia, which he called “to reason”: “It has responsibilities as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council.”
