Conflicts

The matter is back on the table by the Ukrainian president who can no longer stand Washington's indecision: will the use of long-range missiles on Russian territory, on specific targets such as air bases, be authorized?

This entails an authorization that could be a game changer for the war. It must be said that, until now, the United States remained firm and rejected this possibility fearing an escalation of the conflict. This Thursday, October 3, Volodymyr Zelensky, who can no longer wait, made his displeasure known to the new head of NATO, Mark Rutte. "We need a sufficient quantity and quality of weapons, including long-range weapons, about which, in my opinion, our partners are already dragging their feet," declared the Ukrainian president, deploring West's silence.

Washington, which doesn't want to take any risks before the presidential elections, is playing the game to gain time. In addition, the Pentagon claims that it doesn't have enough missiles… A problem that isn't really a problem since Ukraine already has an arsenal of such weapons (several hundred) delivered by the United States. Kiev is just waiting for the green light.

What about Putin in all this?

At the same time, Vladimir Putin maintains that the use of these weapons "would change the very nature of the conflict" and would thus bring NATO to war against his country.

This is a “bluff” believes the researcher at the French Institute of International Relations, Léo Péria-Peigné. Indeed, despite the recent offensive by Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region (southern Russia), no escalation has been observed. The researcher claims that “Moscow would have everything to fear from a direct confrontation with NATO.”

(MH with Manon Pierre - Source: La Dépêche - Picture: The Presidential Press and Information Office via Wikicommons under license Creative Commons CC BY 4.0)