Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s diplomatic missions in the Baltics and at home in Kiev currently have one main goal: to compensate for the loss of support from the USA. From Washington on Thursday, John Kirby, spokesman for the US government, once again announced what everyone already knew and feared: “The aid we are providing has now come to a standstill.” The planned aid package in the form of arms deliveries and other support for Kiev expired at the end of last year. Another could certainly be provided by the USA, but approval is currently pending in the US Congress, where parts of the Republicans are trying to implement their own domestic political goals with their blockade.
This means that the Ukrainians have lost their largest supporter, at least temporarily, which means the ammunition for important weapons systems such as the Himars-Rocket launcher or that patriot-Air defense could become even more scarce than it already is. And the Russian army will likely feel emboldened to launch new attacks by the lack of supplies from the United States. Some experts fear that Russian forces could attempt a renewed attack on the city of Kharkiv. At least Russia appears to be massing troops in the region.
The British Prime Minister demonstratively travels to Kiev
It is no coincidence that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak traveled to the Ukrainian capital on Friday to sign an agreement on security cooperation and, of course, to signal above all: Kiev is not alone, even if the Americans are busy with themselves. Sunak has already promised support worth the equivalent of almost three billion euros for this year and next.
In the days before, Zelenskiy visited the Baltics. He doesn’t have to ask for help there; Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are – relatively speaking – among Ukraine’s biggest supporters. Also because the countries fear that in the event of a Russian victory in Ukraine they will be the next to be targeted by the Kremlin. Zelenskiy’s visit to the Baltics should therefore be understood above all as a reaffirmation of mutual solidarity. Of course, Kiev was also promised continued support in the form of arms deliveries. Ukrainian soldiers are also to be trained in Latvia.
Estonian President Alar Karis set a new tone almost in passing, who announced, there should be no restrictions on the use of weapons supplied to Ukraine. Until now, many of the Western allies had linked their deliveries to the condition that the weapons would only be used for defense within Ukraine and not, for example, against targets in Russia. Something may be changing here in the attitude of some of Kiev’s allies.
Legally, Ukrainian attacks on military targets in Russia would be legitimate as defensive measures. In the past, airfields and the capital Moscow have repeatedly been attacked with drones. Kiev has never officially claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Militarily, it would make a lot of sense for Ukraine to attack missile launch pads in Russia, for example, instead of having to individually intercept every missile that is launched from there towards Ukraine. However, this could prove to be an additional hurdle in the USA for resuming military aid.