US President Joe Biden‘s decision to give Ukraine the green light to blast targets inside Russia with US-supplied long-range missiles may trigger a broader war and lead to yet more bloodshed, former American military chiefs and analysts warn.
Retired Lt. Col. Robert Maginnis warned yesterday that allowing Kyiv to use America’s ATACMS rockets even in a limited capacity would ‘enrage Putin and likely broaden the war’ just weeks before Donald Trump arrives in the White House.
‘I feel it’s going to enrage Putin, which is problematic… ATACMS are not going to make a major difference quite frankly, but what it will do is put Mr. Trump as he assumes the presidency in a much worse situation.
‘What we don’t need at this late hour is the Biden administration exacerbating a pretty bad situation,’ he told Fox News.
Biden’s decision, which signals a dramatic U-turn in US policy, comes as Russian and Ukrainian forces are fighting to gain as much territory as possible ahead of Trump’s return to the Oval Office amid fears the president-elect may seek to force a ceasefire.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has long pressed his Western allies to allow his country to strike military targets deeper inside Russia, saying the ban had made it impossible for Kyiv to try to stop Russian attacks on its cities and electrical grids.
But Kyiv’s Western backers had resisted his pleas amid fears that doing so would cross a ‘red line’ set by Putin.
In September the Russian President said that he would consider Western nations ‘direct participants’ in the war in Ukraine if they were to provide Kyiv with the ability to strike targets inside Russia.
He has also suggested he may provide Russian missiles to Western adversaries to strike Western targets abroad as a course of retaliation.
Chris Pleasance, Host of MailOnline’s War On Tape YouTube series, said: ‘Biden’s decision is designed to help the Ukrainians hold their ground and inflict even heavier casualties on Putin’s army.
‘This may well lead to a spiral of bloodshed on both sides before Trump takes over and tries to enforce a peace. Whether either side will be willing to negotiate after so much blood has been spilled remains to be seen.’