Zelensky asks for a response to the “serious” escalation of the “insane” Putin and NATO calls an urgent meeting with Ukraine

As the Institute for the Study of the War points out, There is something artificial in all this rhetorical strugglewhich, perhaps, makes it even more dangerous. Ukraine had previously attacked Crimea and Belgorod with British and American missiles, as well as Russian positions in the four provinces that Putin unilaterally annexed in September 2022. Strictly speaking, from a Russian perspective, that red line at which the Kremlin is now furious It had already been crossed a long time ago. Similarly, Russia has been bombing Ukraine with nuclear-capable missiles almost since the start of the war. There is nothing new, strictly speaking, beyond the words that accompany the facts.

Thus, the ease with which Putin suggests that this particular missile could, if he wished, make Western Europe disappear is certainly disturbing… at least for those of us who did not experience the continuous threat of the Soviet bloc during the Cold War.

Also The lack of logic in all his arguments and the almost religious obsession disturbs him. for successfully carrying out his mission in Ukraine – a “theological” obsession, as the Biden administration defined it in 2022 – since it is difficult to measure how far he can be cornered without him deciding to goad himself and, in the process, goad the rest of the world.

From Scholz’s diplomacy to British firmness

Zelensky He summed all this up in a single adjective: “insane.” On his social networks, the Ukrainian president warned his Western partners that they had responded with too much lukewarmness to the bombing of Dnipropetrovskwhile calling for more forceful actions to show Putin that he is really playing with fire.

There is also something fake in the president’s rhetoric, of course, because he knows as well as anyone that, in itself, the launch of the Oreshnik does not change anything, but it is a logical setup: Ukraine has been fighting for its freedom for almost three years and is He now faces a certain defeatism on the part of his allies. He needs to revitalize his drive by any means necessary.

It continues to be perceived in old Europe two very different souls. One could be represented by the German Olaf Scholzwhose publicized call to Putin last week no one understood. In fact, it was responded to by one of the largest bombing raids on military and civilian targets by Russia over Ukraine. The other, firmer, has United Kingdom and France as maximum exponents. Macron already made it clear at the time that neither Putin nor anyone else was going to tell France – a nuclear power – who he helped militarily and who he didn’t.

As for the United Kingdom, the commitment to Keir Starmer He may not be as vocal as that of his predecessor, Boris Johnson, but it does not seem that he is going to allow his country – also a nuclear power and a target frequently pointed out by Russian propagandists – to give in to the wishes of a schoolyard bully. Without going any further, the cnn This Friday he recorded the words of a senior British army officer in which he assured that his country was willing to confront Russia “tonight” in case Putin decided to invade another country in its vicinity.

One eye on the missiles and the other on the front

Both sensitivities will have the need to reach an agreement within the NATO framework next Tuesdayin an extraordinary meeting with the kyiv government to seek a coordinated response to the Russian escalation. In the middle, there will be the United States, which, right now, we do not know exactly where it is going to direct its foreign policy. Biden’s turn last Sunday was totally unexpected considering that he had been denying Ukraine permission to bomb Russian territory for two and a half years, with the aforementioned exception of Crimea – whose annexation the United States does not recognize – and the south of Belgorod to protect Kharkiv.

The fact that this decision came after a meeting with Donald Trump suggests that it was the president-elect himself who encouraged him to make that move. The White House said last Thursday that, despite all of Moscow’s bluster, there has been no sign that Russia is contemplating the use of nuclear weapons. When he did consider it, in the fall of 2022, both American and Ukrainian intelligence anticipated the maneuver and Biden was able to pressure Putin and make him desist from such madness.

Therefore, it is to be imagined that, in the much-needed meeting on Tuesday, the US delegation will explain what exactly the two presidents talked about, warn their European partners of what to expect under a Trump administration, and also put Ukraine on notice to make your own decisions. The problem, right now, for Zelensky is not only the fact that Russia is testing new missiles, but what they call from London “the most unstable moment on the front since the start of the war.”

And it is that Russian advances are increasing even if it is at the expense of a greater cost of lives and weapons. Putin does not want to negotiate at a table what he can get by force and if that means owing Kim Jong-Un a favor, so be it. What everyone is clear about is that this cannot last much longer. The war in Ukraine has already lasted as long as the civil war in Spain. Both sides are exhausted and in exhaustion fatal mistakes are made. The task will be for NATO and Russia’s allies to bring a little understanding and sanity to a situation that is going dangerously off the rails.