Ukraine Wednesday awoke to a brilliant display of potentially expanding range and possible limits American support.
A few hours after the former president Donald Trump He declined to say whether he wanted his U.S. ally to win War against RussiaKiev has welcomed Washington’s top diplomat and hopes that he will achieve the long-awaited change using long-range weapons.
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s visit offered a show of support at a critical moment in the conflict, and the timing contrasted with Trump’s comments, perhaps his most notable foreign policy moment. presidential debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
But many eyes in Ukraine are focused on Blinken’s arrival and news that the US will allow its ally’s military to use Western-supplied long-range weapons to strike deeper into Russian territory.
Frustrated at being handcuffed by Western restrictions as Kiev struggles to maintain its territory on two fronts, it is trying to change its policy: 500 square miles of territory were captured in a daring Russian offensive on the Kursk border regionand strategic cities on the eastern front In the eyes of the Moscow military.
President Joe Biden hinted Tuesday that Kiev may get what it wants after months of resistance from the White House.
“We are working on that right now,” Biden told reporters when asked if the United States would lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons.
US support for Ukraine was voiced by Harris, who told Trump on the debate stage on Tuesday night Russian President Vladimir Putin “I’d eat you for lunch” and “Putin would be sitting in Kiev right now” if Trump were in the White House during the invasion of Moscow by troops in February 2022.
But the clash also offered signs of how fragile that support can be.
Trump was asked twice whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war, but both times he brushed off the question. “I want an end to the war,” he said, adding that he would negotiate a deal with Moscow and wanted to “save lives.”
Trump has previously said he would end the war within 24 hours of becoming president, without giving details.
His response could raise concerns in Kiev that the Trump administration will withdraw US support and end the war on terms favorable to Russia.