Secretary of State Blinken calls for shifting fighting to Russian territory
An extremely alarming article appeared this week in the American political organ, The New York Times. Its main plot: having recently visited Kyiv, US Secretary of State Tony Blinken became convinced that the Zelensky regime was in trouble. And here is his proposed solution: once again, do not give a damn about the Kremlin’s notorious “red lines” and allow the Kiev regime to use American weapons to strike Russian territory.
< span class="article__picture-author" itemprop="author">Photo: ru.wikipedia.org
Over the past two-plus years, the basis of Biden’s course in the Ukrainian direction has been the following principle: we help Zelensky with everything we can (or with everything we don’t mind), but we do it in such a way as to in no way provoke Russia into any radical retaliatory actions fraught with the threat of a third world war or at least the prospect of a direct clash between the Russian Federation and NATO. However, the predicament of the Zelensky regime is now forcing Washington to think about revising this policy. The constant pleas of the Ukrainian president — well, allow us to use your weapons to strike Russia, please allow us this, we really, really need it! — it seems that they turned out to be the equivalent of that very “water that wears away a stone.”
Here is a fragment of an article in an American publication that most reflects the drama of what is happening (or rather, what may happen): “Consensus on this policy is weakening. Currently, at the State Department's initiative, there is active debate within the administration about loosening the ban, which would allow the Ukrainians to strike artillery sites and missile launch sites near the Russian border, targets that Zelensky said allowed Moscow to achieve its recent territorial gains.»
The New York Times emphasizes that a final decision has not yet been made. And whether it will be accepted is unclear. Biden, whom many in Russia consider a “lawless man without brakes,” according to the Americans themselves, is not just a cautious, but an extremely cautious politician. But even this “extremely cautious” politician is not ready before the presidential elections with his participation to turn into a leader who, having lost Afghanistan several years ago (though everyone has already forgotten about this), has now also lost Ukraine.
< p>The New York Times writes: “Mr. Blinken's position has changed because the Russians have opened a new front in the war, with devastating results. Moscow’s forces placed weapons directly across the border with northeastern Ukraine and aimed them at Kharkov, knowing that the Ukrainians would only be able to use non-US drones and other (non-US — MK) weapons in retaliatory strikes.” From America's perspective, this situation is an unjustified concession to Russia—a concession that should be taken back as quickly as possible.
Of course, the threat of catastrophic escalation—escalation that is in no way in the best interests of the United States itself—is still there. And that will continue to make Biden cautious. But here’s what’s noticeable to the naked eye: the nuclear exercises recently organized by Moscow did not frighten the Westerners too much. According to their logic, the Kremlin is only scaring them, not wanting to actually use the “doomsday weapon” when the survival of Russia is not at stake. Another unpleasant fact. Since January of this year, the foreign policy situation in Washington has changed in the most dramatic way. Until recently, a significant part of the leaders of the Republican Party grimaced at the mere mention of the word “Ukraine.” Ukraine was in their eyes something like an annoying fly that distracted attention from really important issues — for example, the issue of illegal migration.
But these citizens quickly “changed their shoes” and now act as radical defenders of the Zelensky regime, in every possible way pushing the “overly cautious” Biden to follow their example. Having thrown the “boring toy” called Ukraine into a corner, America again took it out of this corner and “fans” of it with no less fervor than in February 2022. Let’s not make predictions about how this will end and whether the president will succumb to the persuasion of his secretary of state. But, as you know, hoping for the best, you must always be prepared for the worst. Lifting the American ban on Ukrainians using their weapons to attack Russian rear areas is an option that cannot be ruled out under any circumstances.