LOS ANGELES.–Pushing the world to the edge of destruction, 82-year-old President Joe Biden upped the ante in the Ukraine War letting Ukraine’s 46-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky use U.S. long-range ATACMs to strike deep inside Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned before that any use of long-range U.S. weapons would expand the Ukraine conflict to global targets, including the U.S. and NATO. Putin doesn’t want to expand the conflict beyond Ukraine but he also doesn’t want the U.S., U.K. and other NATO countries to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles. Putin recently hit Ukraine with a intermediate range ballistic missile fitted with multiple warheads. Hitting Russia with ATACMs, British Storm Shadow missiles and U.S.-made HIMARs, Putin raised the stakes saying the conflict could morph globally if more long-range missiles hit inside Russia.
Putin noted that the Ukraine conflicts seems to be morphing into a global one, with U.S or NATO bases now subject to Russian retaliation. “From that moment, as we have repeatedly underscored, a regional conflict in Ukraine previously provoked by the West has acquired elements of a global character,” Putin said in address to the nation. National speeches are usually reserved to prepare the Russian public for what could develop into a global conflict. Putin said the U.S. was pushing the world toward a global conflict, giving Zelensky the green light to start striking targets with U.S. and U.K. missiles deep inside Russia. “And in case of escalation of aggressive actions, we will also respond decisively and in a mirror manner,” Putin said warning about new U.S. and NATO targets. Knowing that Trump planned to end the conflict after he takes office Jan. 20, 2025, what is Biden doing?
No one in Biden’s inner circle shows any concern for letting Ukraine drive the war into a global conflict, sucking in the U.S. and NATO. “The use of the enemy of such weapons is not able to change the course of the military operation,” Putin said, agreeing with most military experts that throwaway missile attacks won’t dislodge Russian troops from occupying Ukrainian sovereign territory. It’s been known by military experts for some time that Ukraine lost the war with the Kremlin long ago, with war only losing more sovereign land and destroying Ukraine’s battered infrastructure. So, why has Zelensky started firing missiles into Russia knowing in escalates the war, but, more importantly adds to Ukraine’s losses. “We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military facilities of thouse countries that allow their weapons to be used against our facilities,” Putin said.
Zelenksy doesn’t care how far he pushes the conflict because he knows he’s already lost the war to Putin. Zelensky would like to see Russia provoked into a conflict involving the U.S. and NATO, thinking it would prolong the war beyond Trump’s inauguration. Zelensky’s worst fear is not that Ukraine will lose more sovereign land more civilian and military deaths but that he won’t get the billions in foreign aid he’s used to run his Kiev government and fight the war. Zelensky admitted recently that under Trump the war would end sooner, largely because Trump wants the conflict moved to the peace table for a political settlement. Putin wants to dispel all myths that Ukraine could hit Russia with U.S. and British long-range missiles without consequences. “If anyone else doubts this, then they are wrong—there will always be a response,” Putin said, warning Washington.
Putin knows that things will change once comes into office, pressuring Zelensky to end the war, including accepting land-for-peace, something Zelensky said he would never do. Well, Zelensky won’t have a choice to continue the war independent of U.S. military and financial aid. Zelensky knows that without U.S. funding, it could not continue the battle against the Kremlin for too long. Fearing a coup d’etat, a new Gallup polls shows that his approval ratings have dropped precipitously. Galup showed that 52% of Ukrainians want the war to end, a dramatic drop from nearly 70% in 2022 that wanted war with Russia. Hitting the Ukrainian city of Dnipro with a space-based medium-range ballistic missile, Putin wanted to show Zelensky what’s coming it he continue to fire missiles inside Russia. Putin said Russia was developing new medium-range ballistic missiles once under the INF Treaty.
Putin needs to remind himself that it’s going to be a whole new day when Trump takes office Jan. 20, 2024. He knows Zelensky will be put on notice to stop firing missiles into Russia, but, more importantly, to freeze the conflict at its current lines and start ceasefire and peace talks. If Zelensky doesn’t go along with Trump’s plans for a political settlement, he’ll face severe consequence for continued funding. Zelensky can’t run his government without U.S. government largess, so he’ll have to prioritize what’s important. Paying his civil servants and himself or continuing the war. Before Putin does anything rash, everything will change when Trump takes office. He’s have a real opportunity to settle the conflict without compromising Russian national security. Biden unilaterally wrecked U.S.-Russian relations and endangered U.S. national security.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
