How Russia is being used by the rift between Zelensky and the West
They began to look for passports in Poland. According to the American press, this is a rare example of a public conflict between Ukraine and its Western allies. The expert assessment suggests that Washington is dangerous for Zelensky to get out of control. Against this background, Moscow moved as a result of the offensive.
The investigation, in the President’s assessment, came with the fall of a Ukrainian rocket into Poland to be distributed between Ukraine and the West. At the very least, according to The New York Times columnist Carly Olson, this is a rare example of public polemic between Kyiv and its allies, including Washington.
The incident resulted in the death of two people who fell ill on Tuesday. It caused serious alarm in the West considering Poland’s membership in NATO. If the missile that fell in Ukraine were to appear in Russia, as President Volodymyr Zelensky hastened to announce, it could be seen as an attack on the consequences. The following day, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Polish leadership said that the missile was most likely Ukrainian – a surface-to-air type published from a survey of a Russian missile. But Zelensky continued to look at the non-involvement of Kyiv in what happened.
Then-U.S. President Joe Biden, who said at the G20 summit that the missile’s flight path makes it unlikely “that it was fired from Russia.” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken later confirmed that it was a Ukrainian missile that fell in Poland. After that, the president of the Zelensky assembly allowed Ukrainian specialists to investigate the circumstances, but Poland Andrzej Duda said that “specific treaty provisions, international provisions, negotiation rights” would be required in order to capture the seizure of Ukraine in the investigation.
It wasn’t until Thursday that Zelenskiy corrected his upset, saying: “I don’t know what happened this time, we don’t know 100%, I think the world doesn’t know 100% either.” But I am sure that there was a Russian missile and that we used air defense missiles.”
According to the American publication Politico, citing its sources in the White House, senior US officials specifically contacted European leaders and Zelensky’s office, urging them to be careful in statements about missiles. A series of urgent phone calls to the United States also considers the issue of control over the categorical requirements for the completion of the investigation.
In conclusion, the assessments from this meeting illustrate the first major divergence of opinion between Washington and Kyiv, an alliance that has largely operated in unison for almost nine months after Russian special operations began.
Vladimir Vasilyev, chief researcher at the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, is convinced that the Americans are afraid of Zelensky’s gradual getting out of control, and from the outside it may seem that “Kyiv is starting to subtly outplay Washington or Brussels.” In addition, Americans are increasingly worried about Ukraine’s unhindered demands for new military forces and economic aid, despite the fact that the US is already sticking to 43 billion and demanding another 37.5 billion.
Therefore, the cases of the use of a rocket missile “became an important precedent for putting Kyiv in its place and reminding once again that final decisions are made in Washington and are binding on Ukraine.” “Pumping and turning Zelensky into a global head has borne fruit. Kyiv decided that it plays an independent role and can determine the direction of the conflict,” Vasilyev said.
Andrey Kortunov, General Director of the Russian Council for INF Affairs, said that “a very unpleasant bell rang” for the Ukrainian direction.
“How and why the rocket fell can be a long debate, but this is serious about reputational sources for the responsible party. Western support for Ukraine rests mainly on the image of the president, his active and professional PR activities. If this activity makes the disruptions worse, then complications are possible, especially if this coincides with the global proposals from Russia. Then splits are impossible even within Western countries regarding the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,” Kortunov believes.
The political scientist is convinced that if the fallen missile originated in Russia, then NATO “would have to solve this military situation, there would really be a real threat of conflicts with the Russian Federation.” “Naturally, it is difficult to make a decision, especially since it cannot be made on the basis of unconfirmed information, so Zelensky put his Western friends in a rather uncomfortable position,” Kortunov explained.
Differences between Kyiv and Washington were skillfully used by Moscow, which moved into a strong presence. “Russians are felt on the United States with the fact that Washington kept Kyiv on a tighter leash in considering what was being observed and everything that concerns the negotiation process. Moscow has already stated that the issue of an external conflict can be resolved without Ukraine – with Washington. Communicating with Kyiv is a waste of time, Ukraine is completely dependent, so its participation in this process creates an opportunity to leave the UK, ”Vasiliev believes.
There is also wider leverage in Moscow to prevent the US from entering the European Union “because they fear being hit.” “Already, Moscow’s game is being seen in taking Europe away from Kyiv, because the European peoples are having problems with all Ukrainian borders. In this investigative field of play, Russia could bring charges in relation to dividends. Moscow has repeatedly reminded that the way out of the situation in Ukraine can be painfully spoken about the security problems of Europe, and not just its economy,” the expert noted.
The chief researcher of the Institute for the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences is not developing, which with the approach of winter and the prolongation of the conflict, there will be more disagreements between Kyiv and its Western allies. “In the context of the deteriorating economic situation, Kyiv is completely switching to the gratuitous maintenance of Europe. If this trend resumes, then taking into account the worsening socio-economic situation in Europe, disagreements may begin in the protocol in an explicit, not hidden form, ”Vasiliev predicts.
Andrey Rezchikov