Ukraine is on the defensive, both militarily and diplomatically

The decision had been hoped for for months. It ultimately comes at an extremely perilous moment for Ukraine. kyiv’s request to use long-range ATACMS missiles to target military targets in the depths of Russian territory was accepted by American President Joe Biden, according to several official sources cited Sunday, November 17 by American media.

The authorization aims to allow Volodymyr Zelensky to approach possible peace negotiations in a better position as the Russian army continues to record territorial gains on the front and to intensify its bombardments against cities. During the night from Saturday to Sunday, dozens of drones and missiles were launched against the infrastructure of the country’s energy system, more than half of whose production capacities have been destroyed in similar strike campaigns in recent months. Sunday evening, the Ukrainian president reacted in a very measured way to the American announcement. “Strikes are not made of words. Such things are not announced. The missiles will speak for themselves »said Volodymyr Zelensky in the daily video he sends to his compatriots.

Obtain security guarantees

While Donald Trump, the US president-elect, promised during his campaign that he would succeed in ending the war “in twenty-four hours”Mr. Zelensky said on Friday, in an interview with public television Suspilne, that Ukraine must “do everything so that this war ends next year, by diplomatic means”while warning that the country needed to strengthen its position on the battlefield in order to be able to negotiate a lasting peace.

kyiv and its allies fear that a rapid resolution of the war will inevitably lead to territorial concessions for the benefit of Russia and an abandonment of Ukraine’s aspirations to join the NATO military alliance. However, the Ukrainian authorities still officially refuse to cede their territories and seek to obtain sufficient security guarantees to protect themselves from new Russian attacks in the event of a cessation of fighting, such as an official invitation to join NATO.

Russia wants to keep all of the territories it occupies (around 20% of Ukraine today) and the assurance that kyiv will not join the Atlantic Alliance. For the moment, Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to want to push his advantage on the front line, where his army is advancing at the cost of heavy losses in several areas in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, while the Ukrainian forces are suffering from losses. a lack of equipment and soldiers.

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