Before Biden's visit, Obama's aide said the US could arm Ukraine
Moscow - Kyiv, November 21 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Stamm) - The United States can begin to arm Ukraine, US Presidential Assistant Antony Blinken announced before Vice President Joseph Biden's visit to Kyiv. According to respondents “Kommersant” experts, the White House’s refusal to take a restrained position on the issue of arms supplies to Kyiv will lead to an escalation of the conflict in Donbass.
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The sensational admission by President Barack Obama's Deputy National Security Adviser Antony Blinken came at a hearing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to consider his candidacy for the post of Principal Deputy Secretary of State. Answering questions from senators, the future number two diplomat in the State Department became the first administration representative to officially confirm the possibility of supplying American weapons to Kyiv. “Further steps aimed at strengthening the combat capability of Ukraine's armed forces may cause the other side to think twice and cause it to refrain from further action,” Mr. Blinken said, making it clear that such a scenario was being considered at the White House.
“The statement by President Obama’s assistant cannot be interpreted as evidence that the White House has already made an affirmative decision on this matter. At the same time, the United States is sending a clear signal: if active hostilities resume in the Donbass, Ukraine will be a tougher nut to crack than some may think today,” said Dmitry Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center.
According to the expert, arming Kyiv with American weapons will take the conflict in Donbass to a qualitatively new, immeasurably more dangerous level. “Losses inflicted during hostilities by American weapons will lead to the spread of the conflict and the drawing in of other parties into it,” he believes. “At the same time, the White House clearly underestimates the possible reaction of Moscow, which will regard this step as Washington crossing a “red line.”
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