The News
European countries are bracing for escalation in the Russia-Ukraine war after Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday threatened to use intermediate-range missiles against “decision-making centers” in Kyiv in response to Ukraine firing Western-supplied missiles into Russian territory.
Putin has claimed that Russia’s new Oreshnik hypersonic missile — which it fired for the first time against a Ukrainian city last week — can evade interception, a claim Western military experts have disputed, Reuters reported.
SIGNALS
US unlikely to use all of its $7B in military aid before Trump takes over
Ukraine’s allies are scrambling to respond to the escalation: The US is readying a $725 million weapons package, according to Reuters, but the Pentagon is unlikely to deploy all of its $7 billion in military aid authorized by Congress before President Joe Biden leaves office CNN reported. President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to quickly end the war: His peace envoy pick earlier outlined a Ukraine policy plan that would condition US aid on Kyiv negotiating with Moscow, committing Ukraine to reclaiming occupied territory through diplomacy alone. But the freezing of the front lines would “precipitate a very violent few months ahead” as Putin tries to take as much ground as possible, and there’s no guarantee he’d even respect a ceasefire if and when it is agreed, a CNN correspondent argued.
Europe could hold the key to a viable ceasefire
If other European countries supply massive amounts of aid for rebuilding Ukraine, dramatically increase their own military spending, and commit to helping Kyiv progress through EU accession talks, Ukraine could use a ceasefire to deter Russian aggression in the long term, The Economist wrote. In the coming months, however, Europe should do everything it can to help Ukraine improve its position on the battlefield, which will give it bargaining power in the event of negotiations, two Europe experts argued for the European Council on Foreign Relations. Ultimately, the continent needs to refocus its narrative on Ukraine away from one of ethics — defending the country “whatever it takes” — to one of strategy, they added.