During Wednesday's demonstration of solidarity between President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky there was one notable moment of disagreement.
Olha Koshelenko, a Ukrainian reporter, said that the U.S. refused to provide the Ukrainians with air defense batteries because they would be seen as an unnecessary increase in security assistance. On Wednesday, Biden announced that these missiles, among the most powerful in America's arsenal, would be sent toUkraine to protect it from Russian bombing. Koshelenko wanted to know if the White House could not also move the goalposts on long-range missiles like the ones at theATACMS.
The U.S. won't give Ukraine these missiles because they can hit Russian military positions far beyond enemy lines. The administration has a number of reasons for their refusal. Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said in July that the delivery of the weapons could lead to World War III. The Pentagon declared in October that Ukraine didn't need it. The Wall Street Journal reported on December 5 that the U.S. provided HIMARS were technically disabled from firing ATACMS in order to deter third parties from sending them to Ukraine.
Zelensky said to laughter among the press corps that he agreed with Koshelenko's question.
The American president was singing a different song.
We should just give everything to Ukraine. Biden didn't mention the name of the organization. There is an entire alliance that is critical to stay with the country. The prospect of breaking up NATO and the European Union if we gave Ukraine material that was fundamentally different from what's already happening there would be very frightening. He said he's spent hundreds of hours trying to keep allies together by bartering over their own military aid packages. The U.S. promised to send tanks to Poland so that Warsaw could send tanks to Ukraine.
At least when it comes to lethal hardware, there are cracks in the consensus, according to Biden.
Germany has been hesitant in its commitment to win the war on its own terms. Germany has recently overtaken the U.K. as the second largest contributor of foreign military aid to Ukraine, a marked about-face from the beginning of the war, when German Finance Minister Christian Lindner reportedly told the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany that there was no.
One European diplomat told Yahoo News last week that Scholz remained "Doktor Nein" in his reluctance to escalate further with the Russians. After the war is over, the German leader wants Europe to return to a "status quo ante bellum" with Russia, a "peace order" and answer all questions of common security. Biden noted that Putin showed no interest in discussing a resolution to the war he started.
There could be a sticking point with Berlin. It might be possible. Biden might be able to avoid confrontation with the Kremlin by blaming a wobbly NATO and EU community. It's quite possible.
Putin's terror from above has made the sale of patriot easier. Biden said that they are meant to save lives.
A European diplomat told Yahoo News that bolstering Ukraine's air defenses with advanced systems was seen as less provocative because it would help keep the Ukrainian power grid and water supplies online. The lives of people from other nations, including American and European diplomats and their support staff, as well as the lives of Ukrainians, have been saved by the reopening of Western embassies in Kyiv.
The U.S. willingness to increase security assistance depends on Putin becoming more brutal. Valeriy Zaluzhny, Ukraine's commander in chief, believes that the Russian dictator will try to oust him. Millions of Ukrainian civilians would be at risk if that were to happen.
Depending on what Putin does next, the Ukrainian media and their president could be surprised by Washington.
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