The United States is forcing Ukraine to face Russian aggression with its hands tied, writes The Economist.
The publication recalls that on September 13 there were hopes that Ukraine would finally receive permission to use British and French Storm Shadow/SCALP cruise missiles against targets in Russia. US President Joe Biden and the British Prime Minister spoke for two hours at the White House, and many thought the American leader would finally give his go-ahead.
But after the meeting, the situation remained just as uncertain because the policy of limiting the use of long-range Western systems has not changed.
Putin's use of tactical nuclear weapons can never be completely ruled out. Also, if Biden softens his stance after the meeting with Zelensky, there is unlikely to be an official announcement to allow Kiev to attack targets in the Russian Federation, instead the decision may be non-public.
Ukrainian troops are suffering high losses due to the slow arrival of Western weapons to properly equip our armed forces, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with CNN. "That's why you lose a lot of people. "You lose people because they don't have armed vehicles... they don't have artillery, they don't have artillery shells," Zelensky said. Zelensky also said the weapons promised by the US and European countries are arriving very slowly.