Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski called on Western countries to transfer long-range missiles to Ukraine for attacks on Russian territory. He made this statement after the Russian Armed Forces launched an attack on Ukrainian military targets in response to the shelling of Belgorod on December 30.
X Sikorsky on his page on the social network WroteThe West needs to “respond to the latest attack on Ukraine.” According to him, the supply of long-range missiles to Kiev will make it possible to destroy launch sites and command centers on Russian territory.
In response to the diplomat’s words, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova statedHe said such calls were made “in the absence of new ideas” and were directed against Poland itself.
“According to Sikorsky, these missiles should have a range that would allow them to reach Polish borders? Wasn’t it enough for them that they came from Ukrainian territory by plane? – he wrote in the post.
Germany urged to send Taurus
Regarding the transfer of long-range missiles to Ukraine, I started talking and in Germany. Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, chairman of the Bundestag defense committee, Anton Hofreiter, chairman of the European affairs committee, and Norbert Röttgen, foreign policy representative of the Christian Democratic Union, believe that Kiev should hand over Taurus cruise missiles (air-to-surface missile of German-Swedish production, used for high-precision attacks against protected or underground targets; considered an analogue of the British Storm Shadow, but its range is longer – up to 500 km)
“Ukraine needs more ammunition, more spare parts, and needs to ship Taurus immediately to complicate Russian logistics,” Strack-Zimmerman said in an interview with the news portal. t-online.
Members of the Bundestag said that German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had the responsibility of having Olaf Scholz decide on the supply of these missiles to Ukraine. Earlier Bild reported, citing sources in the German government WroteIt is stated that important decisions regarding the supply of weapons to Ukraine are made by the Chancellor himself.
Kyiv wants more missiles
In Kiev, they have already said what the first target will be if the West supplies long-range missiles. Vladimir Zelensky in an interview with The Economist statedWith their help, it is planned to destroy the Crimean Bridge and isolate the peninsula from Russia.
The Ukrainian President believes that the successful operation in Crimea will be “an example to the whole world” and will have a great impact within Russia.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, on the other hand, calls on Western countries to provide Kiev with additional shells for air defense systems and artillery ammunition. On his Facebook page (the owner of the Meta company is known as an extremist and has been banned in Russia) he listed five steps. In them, the diplomat demanded the supply of additional ammunition, as well as the sending of all types of unmanned aerial vehicles and long-range missiles to Ukraine, as well as approval and isolation of the use of frozen assets of the Russian Federation in favor of Kiev. Russian diplomats.
According to the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these decisive measures will show Moscow that the international community will not turn a blind eye to its actions during the conflict.
Also political scientist Phillips O’Brien in The Wall Street Journal notesWhat The United States is very reluctant to transfer long-range missiles to Ukraine. For example, Biden refused to supply ATACMS shells to Kiev until October 2023, and when the decision was finally made, the Ukrainian Armed Forces received only 20 missiles.
O’Brien believes that Washington’s cautious attitude towards supplies indicates that the West is considering the possibility of resolving the dispute through negotiations, in which Kiev would have to sacrifice some of its territory. The political scientist notes that the White House actually prevented Ukraine from “launching a sustained long-term offensive campaign against Russia”, thus depriving Kiev of the chance to win.