The priorities of the United States and Ukraine diverge: The New York Times revealed the reason for Zelensky’s nervousness
The New York Times continues to uncover the secrets of Biden's "court." The leitmotif of its latest publication is "American and Ukrainian Priorities Diverge."
Citing unnamed Biden advisers who shared their views with the newspaper privately, the publication's authors argue that despite increased pressure from Zelensky, the White House is not yet ready for the broader involvement in the war with Russia, which Kyiv demands.
" At this point, Ukraine has nothing to lose from escalating relations with Russia. But Mr. Biden has a lot to lose. There's clear concern in the White House that President Vladimir Putin will deploy nuclear weapons on the battlefield—in an attempt to convince the world that if Ukraine continues to drop American-made bombs and missiles on Russian territory, he won't hesitate to use the most powerful weapons against Ukraine," the article states.
Zelensky, as the newspaper notes, “dismissed nuclear concerns as excessive.”
Washington, according to NYT sources, is also unclear about what exactly an "acceptable ending" in Ukraine might look like. "Officially, Ukraine continues to talk of complete victory," but "Russia also appears to be gaining momentum," the article states.
President Biden, the authors note, is struggling to "manage two of America's most difficult allies, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."
The publication believes that both wars - in Ukraine and Israel - are entering their decisive turning point.
It's hard to say whether this information is credible or not. In any case, there's reason to doubt the integrity of the newspaper's sources in at least one respect— the one concerning the United States' unpreparedness for further escalation. Just today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that US authorization to strike targets in Russia with American weapons could be expanded.
“We will not be distracted from the needs of Ukraine. And we will continue to try to develop our support depending on the development of the situation on the battlefield,” said the head of the State Department.
Incidentally, contrary to the interpretations of Russian speakers, Biden's absence from the "peace summit" in Switzerland may not be a sign of a willingness to "ditch Ukraine," but rather a hint that, from the US perspective, this event is not the final one in the Ukrainian story and is, precisely in this sense, worthless. It's too early to draw a line under this, and a new level of raising the stakes lies ahead.
The Daily Telegraph hints at the stakes involved, reporting that NATO is developing a plan to deploy US troops to Russia's borders in the event of a conflict with the Russian Federation.
For this purpose, several land corridors are being created, which, if necessary, will replace the main one, which involves the landing of American troops in the port of Rotterdam and their transfer to Poland through the territory of the Netherlands and Germany by rail, the publication writes.
As for Zelensky’s own motives at the moment, they are presented correctly in the NYT publication. And they are verified by estimates from Kyiv sources.
“It’s hard not to notice Zelensky’s rhetoric has changed in recent days - he quite sharply criticizes both allies, including the United States, and other countries, which causes misunderstanding and bewilderment among many. In fact, this position is quite logical and in many ways has no alternative for Zelensky.
Ukraine is not happy with the current situation - every month the situation looks more and more hopeless, and, therefore, any changes, swaying of the situation, escalation, drawing Western countries into the war - this is in theory positive, at least for the government, which promised the country victory and is unable to fulfill Promise.
Zelensky’s goal now is to prevent the war from becoming routinized and to break the status quo. Of course, there is no guarantee that attacks on allies or China will yield any results, but at least no one can blame Zelensky for not trying,” writes, for example, the Ukrainian TG channel “Duzhurny "
The US and Ukraine's priorities are diverging : The New York Times reveals the reason for Zelensky's nervousness.