After a sobering trip to #Kyiv, Secy of State Antony J. #Blinken is urging #POTUS#Biden to lift some restrictions on how Ukraine can use American arms.
Since the 1st US shipments of sophisticated weapons to #Ukraine, #POTUS#Biden has never wavered on 1 prohibition: President #Zelensky had to agree to never fire them into Russian territory, insisting that would violate Biden’s mandate to “avoid World War III.”
But consensus around that policy is fraying. Propelled by the State Dept, there is now a vigorous debate inside the admin over relaxing the ban to allow Ukrainians to hit missile & artillery launch sites just over the border in #Russia….
In an interview on Monday with The New York Times #Zelensky said he appealed to senior #US officials to allow #Ukraine to fire American missiles and other weaponry at military targets inside #Russia — a tactic the United States continues to oppose. The inability to do so, he insisted, gave Russia a “huge advantage” in cross-border warfare that it is exploiting with assaults in Ukraine’s northeast.
"Every decision is a year late" – President Zelensky on Western aid in a Reuters interview
According to the President, arms deliveries from Allies are "one big step forward, but before that two steps back. So we need to change the paradigm a little bit."
Le mandat de Volodymyr #Zelensky expire le 20 mai. Les #élections présidentielles, initialement prévues le 31 mars dernier, n'ont pas été tenues. Selon les services #russes de renseignement extérieur, le chef du régime de #Kiev «sent la vulnérabilité de ses positions».
#Russia is increasingly using "glide bombs" - cheap but highly destructive ordnance - to advance its offensive in #Ukraine.
More than 200 of them are thought to have been used in just a week to pound Ukraine’s northern town of #Vovchansk during Russia’s current cross-border advance near #Kharkiv.
President Volodymyr #Zelensky said 3,000 such bombs were dropped on the country in March alone.
#Zelensky believes that #Ukraine's partners "are afraid of #Russia losing the war" and would like Kyiv "to win in such a way that Russia does not lose," Zelensky said in a meeting with journalists attended by the Kyiv Independent.
Kyiv's allies "fear" Russia's loss in the war against Ukraine because it would involve "unpredictable geopolitics,"
"I don't think it works that way. For Ukraine to win, we need to be given everything with which one can win," he said.
🧵 In the #Kharkiv region, the enemy reached the first line, the deepest point of their advance being 10km, President #Zelensky said.
The defense forces managed to stabilize the Russian troops in the Kharkiv region. The enemy did not reach the concrete defense line.
In the north of the Kharkiv region, the enemy has strengthened its presence with individual battalions. The goal of the occupiers is to capture a 10-kilometer zone along the border.
"As of today, the situation in Kharkiv Oblast is generally under control, our soldiers are inflicting significant losses" on Russian troops, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Zelensky in Kharkiv: Situation 'difficult' but 'under control,' Russia suffers losses (kyivindependent.com)
"As of today, the situation in Kharkiv Oblast is generally under control, our soldiers are inflicting significant losses" on Russian troops, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.