kyiv claims to use Western weapons to strike Russia

Late last week, the United States and several NATO countries gave the green light for kyiv to use their weapons against military targets on Russian soil. Ukraine did not wait long. She assures us that it is done!

The announcement should be taken with great caution, but the intention is clear: no sooner said, no sooner done. Monday June 3, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk published on Telegram the photo of a Russian surface-to-air missile system, an S-300 in flames with this caption: “It burns well. First days after authorization to use Western weapons in enemy territory.“

The image is not sourced and does not allow us to establish whether it was indeed Western weapons that were used, but other accounts from the Ukrainian government, which place the S-300s in the Belgorod oblast, repeat the ‘information. If so, claiming it is a first. Until now, Ukraine had only targeted occupied Crimea, notably with the British “Storm Shadows”.

Ukraine would also like even more margin. Because the American green light only concerns short-range missiles, around 70 kilometers to target the sites from which the strikes on Kharkiv originate. Ban on using the formidable ATACMS which can reach a target 300 kilometers away. The West does not want to offer Moscow the pretext for a direct confrontation.

But during a meeting with his Estonian counterpart on Monday, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba explained that kyiv would try to negotiate a little more freedom with its partners.

On the diplomatic front, kyiv also accuses Moscow of wanting to disrupt the Peace Summit planned in Switzerland. This meeting, at the initiative of the Swiss and Ukrainian governments, was scheduled on neutral ground, near Lucerne, on June 15 and 16, just after the G7 in Italy. For the occasion, 160 countries and organizations were invited, with the exception of Russia. The success of the meeting will be measured less by the quantity of announcements than by the number of heads of state and government who will participate. Above all, kyiv needs to count its supporters.

But there are defections in the air: that of China, which does not understand the absence of Moscow. Indonesia, Brazil and Egypt also risk losing out, the result of intense lobbying work by Russian diplomats. These countries have always avoided taking a position. “The special operation” in Ukraine is presented to them as a war against American domination. And the Summit like a big one “circus” where there is really no need to travel.

There is a great risk that the operation will turn into a fiasco. The United States will only be represented there by their Vice-President Kamala Harris. President Joe Biden wanted to return directly after the G7, to take part in a fundraiser in California for the American presidential election, with George Clooney and Julia Roberts.