Moscow further raises the stakes against theEurope in response to the decision of the United States to deploy long-range missiles in Germany. After having denounced «a return to cold War» and having promised a «military response», the Kremlin warned that the American initiative authorizes the Russia to designate as “potential” targets of retaliation the «capital» of the Old Continent.
On the opposite side Kievdespite receiving new military aid from its top-level partners in the Born Of Washingtonis preparing to deal with a much more problematic reality: the F16 promised, which will start arriving in the summer, should be much less than Ukrainian expectations. The American plan for long-range missiles in Germany will not start immediately, but only starting in 2026, first episodically and then permanently. But the announcement, formalized at the summit of the leaders of theAtlantic Allianceto unleash a series of very harsh reactions from the Russian leaders.
Dmitry Peskovin an interview with a national TV, spoke of a “paradoxical” situation: the USA «they have deployed a variety of missiles of different ranges in Europewhich are traditionally aimed at our country, and as a result our country has designated European locations as targets for our missiles.” A race to escalation, according to the Kremlin, which however flaunted confidence, threatening Washington’s partners: “We have enough deterrent capacity on American missiles in Europe.
It has already happened in the past. However, the potential victims are the capitals of those countries”. On the other hand, this increasingly aggressive rhetoric is counterbalanced by the Kremlin’s desire to keep a channel of dialogue open with Washington. It is no coincidence that yesterday the Minister of Defense Andrei Belousov He spoke about this dossier on the phone with the head of the Pentagon Lloyd Austin. U
The meeting was requested by the Russians, Moscow said, to discuss “how to prevent security threats and reduce the risk of a possible escalation.” The two had already spoken last month. The growing opposition with the West is also being fueled by Russia internally. Proof of this is the law signed by Putin which prevents Russian parliamentarians from going abroad without permission. Under penalty of losing their office Duma or to the Senate.
A crackdown motivated as a protective measure, to avoid “illegitimate criminal actions in hostile jurisdictions”, which could translate into “arrests or sanctions”. In the meantime, on the Ukrainian side, there is cautious expectation on the developments of the conflict and above all on the stability of the Western bloc alongside Kiev. Significant, from this point of view, is the comment of Volodymyr Zelensky to the journalists who asked him to account for the gaffe (yet another) of Joe Bidenwho introduced the Ukrainian leader as Putin.
“The United States has given us a lot of support,” so “I think we can forget some mistakes,” the Ukrainian leader explained. Which may not receive the same attention from the White House if he were to return Donald Trump. Zelensky meanwhile, after the stop at the NATO summit, should fly to Russia next week Great Britain to continue to keep the attention of the allies high. The occasion will be the meeting of Blenheim Palace in EnglandThursday: the fourth meeting of the European Political Communitya dialogue platform extended to non-EU countries EU born on the impetus of Paris in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Kiev’s concerns at this stage are related to the F-16s. According to NATO sources, the delivery of the fighters is plagued by delays, problems with spare parts and the language barrier between Ukrainian pilots and foreign trainers. There are also fears that Ukraine does not have enough runways and that those available are too vulnerable to Russian attacks. The result is that Kiev may be able to deploy an F-16 squadron of 15 to 24 jets: well below the 300 requested. By this summer, by the way, only 6 could arrive.
Tajani, Russian threats seem more for internal propaganda
«It seems to me like a threat to demonstrate also within the country that the Russian Federation he is not afraid of theWestobviously it should not be underestimated but it seems to me a propaganda threat. At this stage the Russia works on disinformation”. This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani to Tonight Italy on Rete4 responding to the threats of the Kremlin to place European cities as potential targets in response to missiles USA long-range that will be deployed in Germany. «We do not want to wage war on anyone, we defend the right to independence of theUkraineit is Russia that has violated civil coexistence” by invading Ukraine, he added. But neither theItaly nor the Born is at war with Russia, and at the top of Washington a “clear” position was expressed that Russia cannot think of acting with impunity in Ukraine.