In recent weeks, the Western media have continued to discuss the results of the Kursk operation and have increasingly emphasised the need to change the rhetoric on the escalation of the conflict and allow Ukraine to strike deep into the rashist federation. After all, as The Washington Post notes, Kyiv's invasion of Kursk crossed the biggest red line - a direct ground attack on russia. Hence, this breakthrough exposed moscow's illusory red lines.
An interesting article was published in Foreign Policy, where the author argues that history shows that ceding land to russia will not bring peace. The ongoing war in Ukraine is a daily reminder to russia's neighbours that their freedom should not be taken for granted. History shows that russians leave occupied territories for only one of two reasons: either they are driven out by force or they are forced to leave by their own cost-benefit calculations. If Washington fails to recognise this long-established pattern and continues to severely restrict Kyiv's defences in the hope of a future reset with moscow, the next wave of russian aggression is all but assured.
Western leaders have failed to effectively enforce economic sanctions and have not yet allowed Ukraine to use Western long-range weapons to attack military targets on russian territory. Nevertheless, by bringing war to russia, Ukraine has proved that there is room for courage and innovation to make the russians pay a painful price for their dream greatness - a greatness that is built on the invasion and occupation of other nations.
Nothing in russian history or recent behaviour indicates that moscow can be expected to negotiate in good faith.
Bloomberg notes that Chancellor Olaf Scholz has accepted the delivery of a modern air defence system for the German armed forces and also announced a large order for air defence systems for Ukraine. By 2026, Ukraine will receive 24 IRIS-T systems from Germany, 12 medium-range and 12 shorter-range systems.
In an editorial from Le Monde, the author argues that Western policy allows Ukraine to wage war but not to win it. This situation is largely due to the inability of allied countries to provide Kyiv with military assistance in a timely manner and to the extent required.
I would like to add that the allies should provide Ukraine with everything it needs to repel the russian invasion and not restrict the use of the weapons provided. Ukraine should be allowed to use Western weapons to the fullest extent.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “will not dictate any of his red lines to us,” Zelensky said against the backdrop of forests and hills in Ukraine’s northern Sumy region. “Only Ukraine and Ukrainians will determine how to live, what path to take, and what choice to make.”
After a year of gradually losing ground on the battlefield, Zelensky made an audacious gamble to seize back the initiative. His bet is that the operation that began Aug. 6 won’t only knock Russia off balance and force it to shift its troops, but also encourage the West to throw its weight more firmly behind Ukraine. Zelensky has been calling for more weapons and for U.S. permission to use long-range ATACMS missiles on Russian territory.
Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s invasion keeps crossing President Vladimir Putin’s red lines.
Kyiv’s lightning incursion into Kursk in western Russia this month slashed through the reddest line of all — a direct ground assault on Russia — yet Putin’s response has so far been strikingly passive and muted, in sharp contrast to his rhetoric earlier in the war.
On Day One of the invasion in February 2022, Putin warned that any country that stood in Russia’s way would face consequences “such as you have never seen in your entire history,” a threat that seemed directed at countries that might arm Ukraine.
UKRAINE’S FRUSTRATION is growing by the day over restrictions that the Biden administration has imposed on the use of American-supplied weapons against targets inside Russia.
As Russia launched massive missile and drone attacks on cities and energy infrastructure over two days last week (August 26th and 27th), Ukraine’s defence minister, Rustem Umerov, and President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, led a delegation to Washington as part of a fresh bid to get the policy changed. According to reports, the Ukrainian team was seeking permission to go after a specific number of high-value targets with American missiles.
Today, Aug. 31, Estonians and Latvians celebrate 30 years since the departure of Russian troops from their territories, which ended half a century of occupation. The ongoing war in Ukraine is a daily reminder for Russia’s neighbors that their freedom must not be taken for granted. History suggests that Russians only withdraw from occupied territories for one of two reasons: Either they are driven out by force or their own cost-benefit calculus compels them to leave. In the latter case, the only major territorial withdrawals in Russian history have happened when regime collapse has radically changed this cost-benefit calculus. If Washington fails to recognize this long-established pattern and continues to severely constrain Kyiv’s defense in hopes for some future reset in relations with Moscow, the next wave of Russian aggression is all but ensured.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz took delivery of an advanced air-defense system for the German armed forces and confirmed orders for five more, as well as an additional 17 units for Ukraine to help repel Russian attacks.
Speaking Wednesday at an air force base on the north coast near Kiel, Scholz said the procurement for the Bundeswehr of the six IRIS-Ts, manufactured by Diehl Defence GmbH & Co. KG, will play a key role in strengthening the European Sky Shield Initiative. So far, 21 nations including the UK and Turkey have signed up to the German-led project, designed to make the continent less vulnerable to air strikes at a time of increasing geopolitical tension.
Allies must give Ukraine what it needs to repel Russia’s invasion and not restrict the use of donated arms, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.
Ukraine should be allowed to use Western weapons including F-16 fighter jets to hit targets inside Russia as long as it follows international law, she told a security conference in Prague on Saturday.
Also in Prague, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was convinced that "Russia's full-fledged war in Ukraine is for Europe a turning point like 1989. We live in a different world, and we are forced to rethink our policies and objectives."
May it be heard in Washington and Berlin! These two governments, while supporting Kyiv, remain the most recalcitrant about allowing Ukraine to strike Russian targets deeper into the country with their weapons and integrate it into NATO. Such a policy allows Ukraine to wage war, but not to win it or survive in a state of security afterward. "To force Russia into peace, we need effective tools," insisted Zelensky.
Ukraine was fully within its rights to launch its surprise offensive into Russia's Kursk border region as an act of self-defense, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told German newspaper Die Welt.
The offensive launched on August 6 caught the Kremlin off guard, with Kyiv claiming to have captured dozens of settlements and more than 1,200 square kilometers (nearly 500 square miles) of territory. "Ukraine has a right to defend itself. And according to international law, this right does not stop at the border," Stoltenberg said in an interview with Die Welt published Saturday. "The Russian soldiers, tanks and bases there (Kursk) are legitimate targets under international law."
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