Putin has already drawn many “red lines” in the Ukraine war. A former US ambassador to Russia accuses the US of having allowed Putin’s threats to become a hindrance.
Washington DC/Moscow – The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warns again and again about the consequences in Ukraine War in the event of delays in Western arms deliveries. At the beginning of August, Zelensky said in a video address: “It is important for us that a minimum amount of time passes between the announcement of the packages and their deployment at the front.” Nevertheless, Ukraine is still waiting for deliveries from its supporters. For example, more than a year passed between the announcement and delivery of the F-16 – not least because of the preparation and training of the pilots.
For the West, the decisions to deliver some weapons, such as the F-16, were always a balancing act – between supporting Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s “red lines”. In the past, the Russian president often emphasized his “red lines” that Ukraine and the West should not cross. The F-16 deliveries were also one of them. The former US ambassador to Russia, John J. Sullivan, has now criticized the USA for delivering weapons to Ukraine too late for this reason.
Putin’s “red lines” in Ukraine war: Ex-ambassador blames USA for delayed arms deliveries
“Whether it’s M1A1 tanks, F-16s or missiles, there have only been delays, delays, delays,” Sullivan criticized Newsweek. Regarding the delayed arms deliveries to Ukraine, he said: “It was a failure of the United States to deliver to the Ukrainians what they needed beyond their heroic resistance.” The former ambassador stressed that “the concern about a red line of Putin“ should not be a factor for the USA in decisions about arms deliveries. From Putin’s point of view, according to Sullivan, the USA is anyway “an enemy of the Russian Federation”.
Kursk offensive in Russia: “Shows once again that Putin’s ‘red lines’ are just words”
Kiev and its Western supporters have repeatedly exceeded Putin’s self-centered limits in the Ukraine war. Most recently, Ukraine has literally and figuratively exceeded one of Putin’s limits with its Kursk offensive in the Russian border region.
Following the invasion of Ukrainian soldiers into the border region of Kursk, Jade McGlynn, Ukraine expert and research fellow at King’s College London, told Guardian: “As a military strategy I remain a little perplexed, but as a political strategy it has been very successful. It shows once again that Putin’s ‘red lines’ are just words and that Russia is not as strong as some claim.”
Putin’s “red lines” as a means of exerting pressure on the West – Russian threat of nuclear weapons
The Institute for the Study of War also wrote about Putin’s red lines in May: “Russia has […] “We have repeatedly demonstrated that the appeal to supposed ‘red lines’ is a reflexive control technique designed to force the West not to provide any further military assistance to Ukraine on its own initiative.”
The Kremlin chief sometimes threatened cryptically about the consequences of crossing his lines. In June, for example, after the West had promised Ukraine that it would be allowed to attack Russia with Western weapons, Putin said that supporters should expect an “asymmetric response.” Some of Putin’s threats were more explicit. In May, the Kremlin chief said of Russia’s nuclear arsenal: “Our strategic forces are always ready for battle.”
Former US ambassador to Russia: Putin does not want “a nuclear war with the United States”
The former US ambassador had always considered it “extremely unlikely” that Putin could use Russia’s nuclear weapons in war, he told Newsweek. Sullivan said of Putin that he does not want “a nuclear war with the United States – no one in their right mind would do that, and he is not crazy.”
“It’s easy for me to say, ‘The Russians aren’t going to use a nuclear bomb,’ but if I’m the one who has to set policy, that’s a pretty big risk, even if it’s a small one because the consequences would be so serious,” Sullivan said, referring to the US president. The former ambassador stressed that the US had “overestimated the risk.”
US aid has also been limited in the past due to a blockade of the republican in Congress. For months they blocked a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine. In this context, Zelenskyj had repeatedly spoken about the importance of US support for Ukraine’s defense. The delay in US aid to Ukraine led to a critical shortage of ammunition in April.
The balance between supporting the Ukrainian military in its defense of the country and the danger of crossing Putin’s red lines is also an issue in Germany. There is ongoing discussion about whether Germany would become a party to the war with further arms deliveries and concessions on the use of the weapons. (pav)
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