US prolongs Ukraine war by sending weapons to strike Russia, experts say

The United States is pushing for a “dangerous escalation” and prolongation of the war in Ukraine by authorizing limited strikes on Russian territory with U.S.-supplied weapons, experts said. Sputnik.

World-renowned economist and chair of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Jeffrey Sachs, told Sputnik “This is a new escalation. It's dangerous,” adding: “The only sensible path is Russian-American negotiation, based on the end of the American project of enlarging NATO to Ukraine, the establishment of the neutrality of Ukraine, the end of the war and the settlement of other outstanding issues.” problems.”

Making Ukraine a neutral state, Sachs said, would not only end the war, but save lives. “This whole conflict could and should have been avoided, on the basis of neutrality, collective security and mutual respect,” he said.

This comes days after US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed that Ukraine had already started striking Russian territory with US-supplied weapons after Joe Biden gave the green light to decision.

In response, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned NATO member countries to know “what they are playing with” and called for a UN Security Council meeting on June 14 to discuss the issue.

According to U.S. officials, Biden made the decision “solely to defend the under-fire Kharkov region” against Russian forces. The news agency says Biden is under increasing pressure from Ukrainian officials who are urging him to relax the ban on the use of weapons. However, the US president believes that this would drag NATO into direct conflict, or even a nuclear standoff, with Russia.

Violent, but “necessary”

Former Iranian ambassador to Germany Seyed Hossein Mousavian said Biden's decision was what the West is looking for and its repercussions would bring neither peace nor security.

Talk to SputnikMousavian said: “Unfortunately, there is no credible international initiative to end the war in Ukraine, and the strategy of NATO member countries is based on prolonging this war,” suggesting an international peace initiative which prevents NATO from expanding to Russian borders and maintaining free elections supervised by the UN in the territories acquired by Russia in Ukraine.

“The majority vote will determine the fate of these territories,” Mousavian said.

Read more: Ukraine war shatters 'superiority' of US-made weapons (RS)

Former US Ambassador-at-Large to the Soviet Union Stephen Sestanovich said Sputnik that it was a “necessary step” to address the scale of Russia’s special military operation.

Sestanovich believes there is a risk that Russia will intensify its military operations in Ukraine in response to Biden's decision, but does not see Russia's intention to expand its operations across borders.

He added: “NATO leaders, including President Biden, have made clear that they want to avoid such an expansion of war.”

Meanwhile, former European expert on the White House National Security Council Charles Kupchan told Sputnik that Biden's decision is “good” and considers “the chances of an escalation are low”, adding that “strengthening Ukraine's ability to defend itself is essential to ending the war. »

According to Kupchan, Russia will not back down on its goal of alienating Ukraine from the West because U.S. officials consistently assert that Ukraine “understands” that the use of U.S. weapons is intended for limited defensive strikes just across the Russian border. However, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday accused Ukraine of using US-supplied HIMARS missiles to target civilian areas in Russia's Belgorod region, killing women and children.