Flashing indicates flexibility in US weapons – night at a glance
Published: Thursday, May 30th 2024, 05:50
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In the debate about the use of Western weapons by Ukraine against military targets in Russia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has indicated flexibility. Since the beginning of the war, the US government has adapted its support for Ukraine to the changing conditions, Blinken said on Wednesday during a visit to the small neighboring country of Moldova. And he was "confident that we will continue to do so".
At a press conference with Moldovan President Maia Sandu in the capital Chisinau, Blinken was asked by a journalist whether US President Joe Biden could be persuaded to lift the existing restrictions. Blinken replied that the US government had neither enabled nor encouraged attacks with US weapons on targets outside Ukraine. Ukraine must decide for itself how it can best defend itself. "We will ensure that it receives the necessary equipment to do so."
Blinken literally emphasized that a hallmark of American support for Ukraine in the more than two years since the war began has always been "to adapt when conditions change, when the battlefield changes, when Russia changes its actions (...). We have adapted and changed as well, and I am confident that we will continue to do so."
French President Emmanuel Macron made it clear on Tuesday that he wanted to allow Ukraine to attack military positions on Russian territory with Western weapons. Most recently, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also exerted pressure to lift existing restrictions on this issue.
The USA has so far provided Ukraine with weapons to liberate its occupied territories, but not for attacks on Russia itself. The US government has not officially changed its position.
"There is no change in our policy: we are neither encouraging nor enabling the use of US weapons on Russian soil," said National Security Council Communications Director John Kirby on Wednesday. He was speaking to journalists while Blinken was still in Moldova. At the same time, Kirby also emphasized that the USA had already adapted its support to the changing conditions on the battlefield and the needs of Ukraine. This will continue to be the case in the future.
A few days ago, the New York Times reported that Blinken was campaigning within the government to allow Ukraine to use US weapons against targets inside Russian territory. It was said that he wanted to persuade President Biden to lift the restrictions. The State Department would neither deny nor confirm the report at the time.
Pistorius cautious about the use of weapons
Meanwhile, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was cautious about the discussion regarding weapons supplied by Germany. "It should be clear, in the interests of military tactics and strategy, that we should not publicly discuss what is possible, what is permitted and what we would like or would like to see or not," said the SPD politician during a visit to air defense missile group 21 in Sanitz in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which uses the Patriot weapon system. "International law allows all of this. What is then regulated in detail between the states, as the Chancellor said yesterday, is a regulation between the states."
Selensky: Russia can no longer undermine peace summit
Around two and a half weeks before the planned Ukraine peace summit in Switzerland, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his hopes for the event. In his evening speech on Wednesday, Zelensky said that Russia was exerting pressure on states not to take part. However, it was "no longer in a position to disrupt the summit, even though it is making great efforts to do so".
At Ukraine's request, Switzerland is organizing the meeting on 15 and 16 June on the Bürgenstock near Lucerne. The summit is intended to mobilize more international support for the country attacked by Russia. Ukraine hopes to convince neutral countries or even countries that are friends with Russia of its position, as well as countries that support it. China in particular is being courted.
The meeting is not about direct negotiations with Russia, but as a first step about working out peace prospects. Moscow has not been invited, but refuses to participate anyway.
What will be important on Thursday
The foreign ministers of the 32 NATO states want to press ahead with preparations for the next Alliance summit at an informal meeting in Prague this Thursday and Friday. At the top-level meeting in Washington in July, it is to be decided, among other things, to transfer tasks to support Ukraine, which were previously assumed by the USA, to the Alliance.
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