He may be the one to try to end the war in Ukraine on behalf of Donald Trump. His name? Richard Grenell. Former ambassador to Germany, this ex-Fox News editorialist was also briefly the head of the Republican's intelligence services during his first term. According to Reuters, he is being considered to become his special envoy to resolve the conflict between kyiv and Moscow. If this were confirmed, it would not be good news for Volodymyr Zelensky. During a round table last July, Grenell pleaded for the creation of “autonomous zones”, vague term which could mean the abandonment of certain occupied regions. He also suggested that he was opposed to Ukraine's entry into NATO.
If there is still talk of a ceasefire at Trump, on the ground, the conflict has reached a new level since Joe Biden authorized, a week ago, the Ukrainians to strike Russian territory with missiles long range, a decision that had been postponed for months. After a first launch of Storm Shadow, British-made projectiles, the Kremlin's response was not long in coming. It was initially rhetorical, with the multiplication of threats – emanating from Putin himself – of nuclear war and the highly dramatized change in doctrine on the matter.
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A previously unknown Russian missile
On Thursday, Moscow raised the temperature a little more by bombing an arms factory in Dnipro (east-central Ukraine) with a hitherto unknown hypersonic missile. Called Orechnik, this intermediate-range ballistic missile can strike targets up to 5,000 kilometers away, and therefore reach the west coast of the United States as well as Europe. In the process, the Russian president clearly warned Westerners. Then, the next day, he ordered mass production of the weapon and advocated its further use in testing, including “in a combat situation”. Ukraine has asked its allies for the latest generation of air defense systems to deal with it.
This Russian escalation must above all be read as a demonstration of force, a message addressed to the West. The fact remains that the war, overshadowed in recent months by the Middle East and the American elections, is coming back in force and becoming international. According to the Pentagon, this trend could soon increase with the entry onto the battlefield of some 10,000 North Korean soldiers deployed in Russia. They could take part in a counter-offensive in the Russian region of Kursk, partly occupied by kyiv forces since the summer. According to the Ukrainian general staff, Russia has massed 50,000 men and is preparing a major operation in this border area.
