behind the escalation, the unknown of the Trump turning point

Decryption By electing Donald Trump, the Americans have shaped the fate of the war in Ukraine. While awaiting his inauguration, the conflict, which Putin now describes as a conflict of “global character”, is escalating.

Maria Zakharova stops mid-sentence, in the middle of her briefing, and answers her phone. A deep voice on the other end of the line is perfectly audible: “Masha, we are not commenting on the ballistic missile attack. » The indestructible spokesperson for Russian diplomacy resumes his press briefing as if nothing had happened. A few hours later, Vladimir Putin appears on Russian television. With folded hands, he confirms that the Kremlin is behind this strange strike on a Ukrainian arms factory, Thursday, November 21: a new medium-range ballistic missile (3,000 to 5,000 km), equipped with a non-nuclear hypersonic warhead , called “Orechnik”. “There is currently no way to counter this weapon, the missiles attack their target at a speed of 3 km per second and the anti-aircraft defense systems developed by the Americans are incapable of intercepting them”proudly describes Vladimir Putin, who does not rule out striking countries whose weapons are used by Ukraine in Russia. “This is the first time that a large ballistic missile with multiple warheads, normally reserved for the deployment of nuclear weapons, has been used in a conflict”underlines Stéphane Audrand, international risk consultant.

How did we get there? Five days earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared for the first time that he hoped for an end to the war in 2025 by “diplomatic means”. According to a recent Gallup poll, 52% of Ukrainians want “see their country negotiate an end to the war as quickly as possible” and 27% would be open to “certain territorial concessions” for this purpose. Vladimir Putin, for his part, has always…

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