By Steve Gutterman (RFE/RL) -- Vladimir Putin’s end-of-year Q&A session with reporters and the public is billed as a chance for Russian...
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(RFE/RL) -- U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has criticized the Biden administration for giving Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia with powerful U.S. missiles, claiming it is intensifying the war. "I disagree very vehemently with sending missiles hundreds of miles into Russia. Why are we doing that? We're just escalating this war and making it worse. That should not have been allowed to be done," Trump said in an interview with Time magazine published on December 12. After more than a year of hesitation, the Biden administration last month finally gave Ukraine the green light to strike military assets inside Russia with U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS). The powerful, precision missiles can strike targets as far away as 300 kilometers. The Biden administration justified the decision saying Russia had escalated the conflict by deploying about 11,000 North Korean troops to the front. John Kirby, U.S. national-security spokesman, declined to respond to Trump's comments regarding ATAMCS, saying only that President Joe Biden will continue to support Ukraine until his term ends next month. Kirby announced a new military package for Ukraine without stating its size. Just days after Ukraine fired its first ATACMS into Russia, the Kremlin responded by striking Ukraine with a new, intermediate ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The use of the intermediate missile was meant to serve as a message to the West, the Kremlin said. Trump did not say whether he would unilaterally withdraw Ukraine's permission to use ATACMS inside Russia upon entering the White House on January 20 or use it as a bargaining chip with the Kremlin. Trump has said he could end the nearly three-year war between Russia and Ukraine in "24 hours," raising concern he could force Kyiv to cede land currently occupied by Moscow's forces. The United States is Ukraine's largest supplier of weapons, giving Washington significant influence over peace negotiations. When asked if he would throw Ukraine under the bus to get a peace deal, Trump said, “The only way you're going to reach an agreement is not to abandon." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has demanded Western security commitments to his country be part of any negotiated settlement. Zelenskiy -- and most Ukrainians -- want NATO membership, saying only that will prevent Russia from invading their country again. Trump was not asked about NATO membership for Ukraine but has been critical of the U.S.-led military organization in the past, saying it is a drain on U.S. finances. The United States accounts for about 60 percent of NATO military spending. During a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on December 7 in Paris, Trump said he did not back NATO membership for Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported.However, Trump did say he wanted European peacekeeping forces to monitor the cease-fire, the paper reported. The United States would support the effort but not with U.S. troops, he told the two leaders, the Wall Street Journal reported. Separately, in a speech on December 12, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called on European members of NATO to step up spending, warning the threat emanating from Moscow will not dissipate anytime soon. "Russia is preparing for long-term confrontation, with Ukraine and with us," Rutte said in a speech in Brussels. "We are not ready for what is coming our way in four to five years. It is time to shift to a wartime mindset, and turbocharge our defense production and defense spending."
By Steve Gutterman (RFE/RL) -- Vladimir Putin’s end-of-year Q&A session with reporters and the public is billed as a chance for Russian...
By Mike Eckel (RFE/RL) -- Behind closed doors in Moscow, Kyiv, Brussels, Washington, and other capitals, diplomats, elected leaders, and military...
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with German Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz and responded to a question about the possibility of freezing the...
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with German Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz and responded to a question about the possibility of freezing the...
By Rikard Jozwiak and Zoriana Stepanenko (RFE/RL) -- The U.K. and U.S. governments on December 18 said the comments of Russian Security Council...
President of Montenegro Jakov Milatović believes that every nation has the right to choose its future, and that Ukraine will eventually become a...
Lithuania has expressed its readiness to invest in the production of Ukraine's Palianytsia missile-drone, a part of the country's long-range...
Lithuania has expressed its readiness to invest in the production of Ukraine's Palianytsia missile-drone, a part of the country's long-range...
Putin continues to wage psychological warfare against Ukraine and the West with his old-new threats, even as all other resources at his disposal are...
President-elect Donald Trump has criticized outgoing President Joe Biden for authorizing Ukraine’s use of American-provided ATACMS missiles to...