This is the latest red line that Westerners could, like the previous ones, end up crossing. Ukraine urges its allies to authorize it to strike Russian territory with their weapons, provoking a cacophony favorable to Moscow in response. NATO is pushing Western capitals to lift restrictions that “tie the hands behind the backs of Ukrainians”, in the words of its Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg. France is in favor of this idea. Unlike Rome and Berlin.
Information to remember
⇒ Sweden announces military aid of more than a billion euros
⇒ Six dead in Russian strikes
⇒ The United States opposes Ukrainian strikes “on Russian soil”
Sweden announces military aid of more than a billion euros
Sweden promised military aid of 13.3 billion crowns, or 1.16 billion euros, to Ukraine on Wednesday, at a time when kyiv is suffering from delays in the delivery of Western equipment to Russia. “Sweden supports Ukraine with a sixteenth aid package, its largest,” Deputy Prime Minister Ebba Busch said at a press conference.
Stockholm will in particular provide ASC890 reconnaissance radar aircraft. Ukraine will thus have “a completely new capacity for airborne radar reconnaissance and combat management against targets in the air and at sea”, according to a government press release.
Six dead in Russian strikes
Six people were killed by Russian strikes in several regions of Ukraine, and the death toll from the bombing of a hypermarket in Kharkiv rose to 19, the respective Ukrainian regional authorities announced on Wednesday.
In the Donetsk region, three people were killed and at least 12 injured in several bombings by the Russian army, regional governor Vadim Filashkin said on Telegram this morning. Several houses and civilian buildings were “damaged”, the official said in his press release.
The United States opposes Ukrainian strikes “on Russian soil”
The United States, kyiv’s primary military supporter, does not want Ukraine to use American weapons to strike “on Russian soil”, a White House spokesperson said on Tuesday.
“Our position has not changed at this stage. We do not encourage or permit the use of weapons supplied by the United States to strike on Russian soil,” said John Kirby, spokesman for the Security Council. national security, after French President Emmanuel Macron considered that it was necessary to let kyiv “neutralize” the military bases from which Russia fires its missiles against Ukrainian territory.
Blinken in Moldova to support his Western aspirations
American Secretary of State Antony Blinken returns to Moldova on Wednesday to show his support for the Western aspirations of this country bordering the EU and Ukraine, at a time when Washington is concerned about Russian advances in the region.
The head of US diplomacy must announce “a solid set of support measures”, announced Jim O’Brien, responsible for Europe within the State Department.
Belarus suspends participation in the Arms Reduction Treaty
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed a decree on the suspension by Belarus, Russia’s closest ally, of its participation in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE).
The decree, signed on May 24, was published Wednesday on the official legal information website of this former Soviet republic, neighboring both Russia and Ukraine. Belarus is not directly engaged on the ground in Ukraine but has lent its territory to the Russian army so that it can launch its assault in February 2022.