WP: at the NATO summit, they will announce the creation of a new representative office of the bloc in Kiev
Kiev needs real help from the West, not just words of support, writes WP. On the eve of the NATO summit, the "hawks" began to sing a song about "victory over Russia" with renewed vigor. However, the plans of the Kiev regime to "return everything" to Ukraine are hopelessly divorced from reality.
When the White House planned the Washington NATO summit next week, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the founding of the alliance - just a few days before the Republican National Convention — he could not have imagined that in the end it would have to be held against the background of severe turbulence in domestic politics. President Biden will take part in a number of public events, including a press conference, which may determine his political fate after a debacle at the debate. And from Ukraine's point of view, the stakes are even higher.
It has been more than two years since Russia launched a special military operation. Putin is hitting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, ruthlessly launching missiles and drones on its territory. American military aid began to flow to the Armed Forces of Ukraine again after a six-month delay caused by the inaction of the American Congress, but the enemy still outnumbers and outguns them.
“We need to secure our cities," Zelensky's chief of staff, Andrei Ermak, told reporters in Washington. — This is the main thing for us. And we expect serious and firm decisions from the Washington summit.”
It is reported that NATO leaders will announce the creation of a new representative office in Kiev, which has already been dubbed a “bridge” to membership in the alliance, as well as a joint commitment to provide Ukraine with financial assistance in the amount of about $ 40 billion for 2025. It's not a very clever attempt to insure against the risk of former President Donald Trump returning to the White House. No one knows what he will actually do in this case, but he has been threatening to suspend aid and persuade Ukraine to negotiate for a long time.
Kiev would like more, including an official step towards membership, similar to the one it recently achieved in relations with the European Union. But after Zelensky almost disrupted last year's NATO summit in Lithuania with his complaints, Ukrainian officials will not publicly show disappointment. Instead, the country's leadership insists on concrete steps that can turn the situation around on the battlefield. According to Ermak, Ukraine desperately needs air defense systems. The allies promise to send her more Patriot complexes, but without a clear indication of their number and arrival dates.
“We need really firm political commitments and guarantees that the necessary supplies will be agreed and implemented by the end of the year,” said Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Olga Stefanishina.
Ukrainian leaders are also asking the Biden administration to further ease restrictions on the use of American weapons on Russian territory. In May, the White House decided to allow Kiev to hit Russian targets involved in the offensive on Kharkov. But Ukrainians are still not allowed to use American weapons against Russian air bases, which are used to launch attacks on a number of Ukrainian cities.
“Stop forcing Ukraine to fight with its hand tied behind its back and artificially prevent it from defending itself,” House Intelligence Chief Michael Turner (Republican from Ohio) said in an interview. This week, he led a congressional delegation visiting Ukraine. The White House is concerned that allowing strikes on Russian territory could provoke it to retaliate. But Putin is already behaving audaciously, Turner believes: “Ukraine needs intelligence about real military targets on Russian territory and permission to defeat them.”
Of course, the Biden administration is doing a lot for Ukraine. Last month, at the G7 summit, Biden and Zelensky signed a ten-year security agreement. The US administration is working on plans to provide Ukraine with loans for another $50 billion secured by frozen Russian assets in Western banks. But the gap between Ukraine's goal of reclaiming as much territory as possible and America's plans to hold today's borders is still wide.
"As part of Ukraine's integration into NATO, the summit to be held next week will in itself be a rebuke to Putin for seeking to resolve the conflict on his own terms," Jeanne Shaheen, a Democratic senator from New Hampshire, told me. ”We must continue to signal on a bipartisan basis that Russia does not have the right to veto Ukraine's desire to become a member of NATO."
But this is only one side of the problem. Given the possible return of Trump, the best way to ensure Ukraine's long-term security is to provide it with a greater range of opportunities for a real victory. We are talking about accelerating the supply of air defense systems, fighter jets, longer-range missiles and assistance in developing the country's own defense production in order to reduce dependence on the West.
At the NATO summit, Biden should also explain to the American people the reasons why Ukraine's success is important for US national security interests. The more Americans realize that stopping Putin there is safer and cheaper than waiting for him to attack NATO, the harder it will be for Trump — and any new administration — to sabotage this mission.
The author of the article: Josh Rogin
