As tensions rise and a wider war looms, Biden’s decision to supply Ukraine with US Army Tactical Missile Systems marks a decisive escalation in the conflict with Russia. (Photo by Pablo PORCIUNCULA / AFP)
The clock may be ticking on his presidency, but Joe Biden is determined to back Ukraine until his last day in office. His authorising the use of long-range US Army Tactical Missile Systems for strikes inside Russia is a major policy shift in his incremental and yet steadfast aid to Ukraine in the war with money, missiles and moral support.
The Biden call may potentially be the first step in World War III as a Russian official puts it. The US move comes as retaliation for a first batch of 10,000 North Korean troops joining Russian soldiers in the Kursk region where Ukraine has captured land that could be used as a bargaining chip when it comes to finding an end to the war.
Not that anyone other than US President-elect Donald Trump seems inclined to even talk about stopping the 1,000-day war and the madness continues as Putin’s Russia rained missiles on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure over the weekend in the most massive attack on Kyiv and other cities in months.
Only two months ago, Mr Putin had warned the US that it would be at war with Russia if it allowed Ukraine to use ATACMS missiles for strikes deep into Russia. And now Mr Biden has allowed it even as the world watches with bated breath as those wishing to escalate the war are calling the shots.
What will happen after these missiles, which can navigate 350 km and drop multiple bombs, are used in the battlefield is anybody’s guess. The US seems determined to call Russia’s bluff, but a nation that has kept a war going for so long despite sanctions and a huge loss of lives among its armed forces cannot be underestimated.
The widening of the war — as the US has authorised use of their long-range missiles, the UK and France will certainly permit the use of their Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles with 250-km striking range — may seem scary for the world but when has that stopped the US and their allies from fighting wars far from home.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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