The publication believes that the goals of the negotiations of the two heads of state differedWASHINGTON, December 22.
/tass/. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky was unable to achieve the goal of his visit to the United States and obtain more modern weapons for offensive operations. This opinion is contained in an article published on Wednesday by The Washington Post (WP) on the results of the Ukrainian leader's trip.
Its authors point to the divergence in the views of US President Joe Biden and Zelensky on the military needs of Ukraine. As emphasized in the article, "the Ukrainian president and his advisers continue to insist that Washington send modern weapons, which Biden does not want to provide," the article notes.
The publication believes that the goals of the negotiations between the two heads of state differed. So, Zelensky's goal was to get "more powerful weapons and increase Ukraine's ability to launch major offensive operations" next year. "There were practically no signs that he succeeded, at least in the short term," the authors of the article emphasize.
For its part, the Washington administration was looking forward to "discussing what [Zelensky] thinks about diplomacy," a White House source told the newspaper. "At what stage is he now, and what does he need to make sure that Kiev is in the strongest possible position so that the negotiation process can be accelerated," the source added. He repeated the position of the administration: "It is not for us to determine what diplomacy should look like, when it should begin or what its "red lines" should be - these decisions should be made by Ukraine."
The official also believes that in the Congress of the new convocation, which begins work on January 3, there will be more of those who oppose the provision of military assistance to Kiev. "There will be loud voices, not particularly influential, but loud ones that will prove that this money needs to be sent elsewhere, that we are spending precious resources on foreign adventures," he stressed.
Refusal to aggravate relations with the Russian Federation
At the same time, according to the former permanent representative of the United States to NATO Ivo Daalder, who now heads the Chicago Council on World Affairs, "Biden is still concerned not to go too far, he fears an aggravation" in relations with Russia.
In turn, the Politico newspaper on Wednesday noted that "Zelensky sometimes disappoints the Biden administration with his constant requests for more weapons, including those that would allow Ukraine to strike deep into Russia." "The United States resolutely refuses to send such weapons to Kiev, fearing that they could be used to sharply escalate the conflict," the article says.
An article published on Wednesday on the Responsible Statecraft portal of the Quincy Institute of Washington also emphasizes that "Biden did not show much interest in calls to send long-range missiles and other offensive weapons to Ukraine."
Russia's Decisions and the West's reaction
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the holding of the SVO in Ukraine in connection with the request of the leaders of the republics of Donbass for help. He stressed that Moscow's plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories, and the goals are demilitarization and denazification of the country. The West, in response to Russia's decision, began gradually imposing numerous and large-scale sanctions against it. Along with this, Western states have begun to supply weapons and military equipment to Kiev for amounts estimated at this stage in the tens of billions of dollars. A number of Western politicians have admitted that it is, in fact, an economic war against Russia. As Putin stated on March 16, the Western sanctions policy towards Moscow has all the signs of aggression. He pointed out that the policy of containing Russia is a long-term strategy of the West.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other Russian officials have repeatedly drawn attention to the danger of the spread of weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine in other regions. Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov warned that the militarization of Ukraine by the West directly threatens European and global security.
