Ukraine can now use U.S. weapons to strike at targets inside Russia. That permission comes with numerous asterisks. The targets are geographically restricted to the northeast region across the border from Kharkiv, for instance, and Ukraine has only received the go-head to use short-range missiles.
Other Ukrainian allies are less cautious. The Netherlands has authorized Ukraine to use its recently delivered F-16 fighter jets to strike pretty much any military target inside Russia. France is considering the dispatch of military trainers to Ukrainian territory (previously it was conducting such trainings outside of Ukraine).
This relaxation of restrictions has prompted yet another series of threats from the Kremlin that it will attack NATO directly or use tactical nuclear weapons within Ukraine. Yet, it is precisely because Russia has made these threats repeatedly—and not followed through on them—that has made it easier for Ukraine’s allies to cross the purported “red lines” and supply ever more offensive weapons.
Russia has been brazen and incautious in many ways: invading Ukraine in the first place, committing widespread war crimes, and throwing wave after wave of infantry into the line of fire with its “meat-grinder” tactics. But it has also been fundamentally cautious by not directly engaging NATO forces, …read more
Source:: Institute for Policy Studies
