After more than a week of Russia issuing numerous threats to Ukraine that it would launch "systematic strikes" on Kiev and calling on Western diplomats to leave the Ukrainian capital, on Tuesday night the Russian Air Force launched a massive attack. The escalation of the conflict and the related changes on the international scene are today the leading topic in the Western press, writes BTA.
Great Britain
Russia is taking advantage of the global shortage of air defense missiles and is stepping up its strikes against Ukraine, writes the British newspaper "The Guardian".
The shortage of American "Patriot" air defense systems is particularly acute and this makes the countries that rely on them vulnerable, the publication notes.
The MIM-104 Patriot is the main anti-aircraft missile system of the US armed forces for shooting down ballistic missiles and is highly trusted by US allies. One battery costs about $ 1 billion. The massive use of the Patriot in the course of the US-Israeli campaign against Iran, in addition to the conflict in Ukraine, has caused great difficulties in replenishing depleted stocks.
After yesterday's massive Russian air attack, in which Moscow launched 73 missiles and nearly 700 drones against Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated his call for the US to send more interceptor missiles. At the same time, a number of experts have warned that China and Iran have certainly taken into account the well-documented shortage of this type of military equipment, even as the US steps up production, the Guardian continues.
And while the shortage of interceptor missiles has the most visible consequences for Ukraine and the Gulf states, the problem is much larger - it could upset NATO's defense plans amid assessments of a growing Russian threat, the British publication comments.
According to some estimates, the war against Iran has led to the depletion of nearly a third of the stock of interceptor missiles for the "Patriot" systems. It is estimated that the Gulf states have launched a total of 1,100 such missiles since the beginning of the war.
At the heart of the problem is the pace of production. "Lockheed Martin" produces about 600 interceptor missiles for the Patriot system annually. The company recently said it was aiming to triple production of the missiles, which cost about $3 million each.
Germany
Russian President Vladimir Putin does not yet seem ready for serious negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, but the German government believes it can change that, writes the magazine "Spiegel".
From Berlin's perspective, there are two things that are crucial. First, Ukraine's military resilience must be permanently strengthened so that after the end of the summer, Putin loses hope that he will be able to bring Ukraine to its knees by striking at its energy infrastructure during the cold winter. The most important element of these efforts is to ensure sustainable financing of Ukrainian defense, the German magazine notes.
Berlin, Paris and Brussels believe that the very fact that the Europeans have fully taken over the financing of Ukrainian defense gives them the right to initiate peace negotiations or at least participate in them, continues "Spiegel". It is obvious that not much can be expected from the United States in this regard, the publication adds.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio complained at a recent meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Sweden that he was fed up with "endless and fruitless negotiations". The United States is currently preoccupied primarily with the war against Iran and the possibility of concluding a peace agreement with the Islamic Republic.
European diplomats agree that since the beginning of this year there has been practically no progress on the issue of Ukraine, and now the Europeans want to change that. However, something is missing from the whole picture, and from the German government's perspective, this is the second important prerequisite for successful negotiations: a position that is as unanimous as possible and a common strategy developed with the participation of Ukraine by the Europeans, summarizes "Spiegel".
USA
Russian President Vladimir Putin is under increasing pressure over how he could end his war in Ukraine, writes the "Washington Post". Russian forces on the battlefield are stagnating, Moscow's financial resources are running out, and the increasingly frequent Ukrainian drone strikes deep into Russian territory are causing growing public discontent, say Russian and European officials, as well as some analysts.
Brussels officials told the American publication that the escalation of aggression against Ukraine is due to the increasing difficulties that Russia faces both militarily and economically. The massive Russian air strikes could be interpreted as an attempt by Moscow to renew peace talks by imposing its own conditions, the "Washington Post" also writes.
An analysis recently published in the authoritative magazine "Russia in Global Politics" states that Putin's military goals are now unattainable. The author of the article - respected Russian political scientist Vasily Kashin - claims that thanks to the assistance provided by the West, Ukraine manages to invest more financial resources in military equipment and technology than Russia. In addition, according to Kashin, the Ukrainian mobilization system is proving to be more effective than Russia's, the "Washington Post" adds.
"The war is being fought between relatively equal opponents. Historically, such wars have rarely led to the complete destruction of one of the countries," Kashin writes. "The elimination of the anti-Russian regime is generally impossible without a complete military occupation of the entire country for a long period of time. For Russia, this is technically unattainable," the Russian political scientist adds.
Western officials, who have long been pessimistic about Ukraine's chances of victory, see that the tide is starting to turn against Putin, at least for now, the "Washington Post" also writes.
"A possible outcome is that Russia will simply run out of steam," said Sir Alex Younger, a former head of MI6. An outcome "in which it will not be pushed out of Ukraine, but the actions of the Russian army will become of no strategic importance," Younger added, quoted by the Washington Post.