With its unexpected attack in the Kursk region, Ukraine angered not only Putin, but also the United States. This was stated by Professor Joachim Krause, director of the Institute for Security Policy at the University of Kiel (Germany), reported focus.de. According to him, it is possible that the Ukrainians will set a condition to the US: we will withdraw from Russia if you lift the restrictions on the use of Western weapons against Russian territory.
„The American government will not be happy about the advance into Russian territory and may not have been informed in advance. There is a fear in Washington of an unpredictable Russian reaction that seems to me, and to most experts, exaggerated. But Biden's thinking is still deeply rooted in Cold War logic,” said the political expert.
The Biden administration has imposed numerous restrictions on Ukrainian forces that significantly limit their ability to eliminate Russian offensive capabilities. According to experts, these restrictions are illogical, considering the public statements of the US and other Western countries that Ukraine must win this war.
„I assume that the US government will clearly criticize Ukraine and demand that the operation remain spatially limited or that the Ukrainians withdraw,” Krause said. He also gives another hypothesis – Ukraine carried out this invasion to force the US to lift restrictions on US missile strikes on Russian territory. And Kyiv to say – lift the restrictions and we will withdraw from Russian territory.
Joachim Krause also commented on the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said that with his actions in the Kursk region, the Ukrainian army committed a “large-scale provocation”: “For someone who is responsible for large-scale provocations and terrorist attacks against Ukraine every day, that claim is pretty far-fetched. His statement reflected his deep-seated anger at how badly he had misjudged his aggression against Ukraine. The war was supposed to last only a week, and it is already in its third year, the Russian losses in men and equipment are enormous.
Obviously this offensive operation caught the Russians completely off guard. Above all, this raises the question of who in Moscow will be responsible for this. Some are already speculating that the Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov may fall, the expert also predicts.
At the moment, one can only speculate what the goals of the ZSU are in the Kursk Region. There are several motives that seem relatively likely to me, Krause said. On the one hand, the intention may be to relieve pressure on the Ukrainian front in the Donbass, which is under heavy pressure. Second, it could be an attempt at a territorial bargaining chip for eventual ceasefire negotiations. Third, this offensive also raises the spirits of the Ukrainian side. But for now, these are speculations, as the Ukrainians have not announced anything official.