Latest news with #WesternWeapons
Al Arabiya
6 days ago
- General
- Al Arabiya
Putin openly questions peace talks after blaming Ukraine for deadly bridge attacks
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday openly questioned the point of peace talks with Ukraine after accusing Kyiv's senior leadership of ordering deadly terrorist attacks on bridges in Russia that killed seven and injured 115 more. Russian investigators said that Ukraine blew up a highway bridge over a railway on Saturday just as a passenger train with 388 people on board was underneath it. The attacks came ahead of peace talks in Turkey on Monday. Putin said the attacks on the bridge in Bryansk and another one in Kursk had been directed clearly against the civilian population and that the attacks were evidence that the Kyiv government 'was degenerating into a terrorist organization, and its sponsors are becoming accomplices of terrorists.' 'The current Kyiv regime does not need peace at all,' Putin said at a televised meeting with senior officials. 'What is there to talk about? How can we negotiate with those who rely on terror?' Putin suggested that any ceasefire would simply be used to pump Ukraine full of Western weapons. Ukraine has not commented on the bridge blasts.
Telegraph
28-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Moscow is now a target for Ukraine's Western missiles
The new German chancellor Friedrich Merz announced this week that all restrictions on the use of Western supplied weapons to Ukraine have now been lifted. This may be significant in the case of the German Taurus cruise missiles which are probably now bound for Ukraine in numbers. Putin's lair in the Kremlin may soon be in range of some of these sophisticated weapons, which hitherto Russian air defences have struggled to stop. Published specifications on the Taurus suggest it may not have the range to reach Moscow, but it is much the same size and uses much the same technology as the American Tomahawk, which could definitely reach the Russian capital. Russian generals have already been assassinated near the Kremlin: it may become an even unhealthier location soon. This apparent low-key briefing may well be one of the most significant revelations of this war. The ubiquitous Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, is already blaming European leaders for prolonging the war with this move: it clearly has the Kremlin rattled. Most of the airfields in western Russia, from which Putin's missile and drone attacks are launched against Ukrainian hospitals and schools, are now in range. If Russia must pull its air and logistic hubs back even deeper into Russia, its beleaguered Special Military Operation becomes even more difficult to sustain. In fact if Moscow starts being hit regularly by full blown cruise missiles, rather than just the odd rogue drone, Putin and Lavrov know that Muscovites are very quickly going to turn on them. With holiday flights to the coastal resorts already disrupted by Ukrainian drone attacks and unavailability of Western-made aircraft spares, one can feel the mood music in Russia beginning to change. The usually highly patriotic Moscow press is already starting to blame the Kremlin for the economic catastrophe unfolding because of western sanctions. If Trump turns off Russian oil, the life blood of the country, anger might mean a coup. But what is so depressing for true Americans and genuine friends of America is that the Trump administration sometimes seems bent on abandoning US global geopolitical and economic pre-eminence. Putin and his acolytes are fizzing with excitement at the idea that Trump might prove to be the 'American Gorbachev'. If Trump continues on his trajectory, Putin's fantasy might materialise. Though it does appear that Putin is beginning to get under even Trump's rhino skin, as he claims the Russian leader has gone 'completely crazy'. Once again the Kremlin staffers claim to be hard at work on a new ceasefire proposal. These get more ridiculous and less workable each time they get their pens out. There is no just peace for Kyiv if it must give up all four oblasts illegally part-occupied by Russia, and has to de-couple from any association with Nato. Let us all hope that this is not another false dawn. But there are grounds for hope. With Trump appearing to realise he is being treated as an idiot, and with Putin's military bases and even Moscow now in range of Ukraine's western missiles, Russia may have to face a ceasefire. At long last, Western leaders are beginning to understand that the only way to negotiate with a tiger is from a position of strength – not when your head is in his mouth.
Russia Today
27-05-2025
- Business
- Russia Today
Russia requests UN meeting on ‘threats' by Ukraine's backers
Russia has requested a UN Security Council meeting to address what it sees as attempts by EU countries to derail the peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict, Dmitry Polyansky, the first deputy permanent representative to the UN, has said. The announcement came after Germany said Ukraine has been permitted to strike targets deep into Russian territory using Western-supplied weapons. In a statement on Telegram on Tuesday, Polyansky said the session is expected to take place at 10am New York time (14:00 GMT) on Friday, and will focus on 'threats to international peace' posed by Kiev's backers. According to Polyansky, the session is a mirror response to a similar meeting requested by 'the European sponsors of the Kiev regime on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine,' scheduled the day prior. The diplomat suggested that Kiev's backers convened their meeting because they grew impatient waiting for the results of the Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul and for a reaction from US President Donald Trump, who has positioned himself as a key mediator in the conflict. 'They feel it is important to them to keep the Ukrainian topic afloat at the Security Council, even at the risk of misjudging the tone favored by the new US administration,' Polyansky said. The move came after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Germany and its allies no longer have range restrictions in place on weapons provided to Ukraine, adding that the decision was made months ago. However, German Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil appeared to dispute Merz's statement, saying, 'There is no new agreement that goes beyond what the previous government has done.' The previous German government, led by Olaf Scholz, opposed the delivery of long-range systems, as well as long-range strikes deep into Russia using Western-supplied weapons, due to concerns that the moves could result in an escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Moscow has long criticized Western weapons deliveries to Ukraine, saying they only prolong the conflict without changing the outcome. On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said continued military assistance to Kiev by NATO countries represents 'indirect participation in the war against Russia,' which 'does not contribute to a peaceful settlement.' Earlier this month, Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks since 2022, in which the sides agreed to a record prisoner swap. Moscow also pledged to hand over a memorandum for resolving the conflict to Kiev, which will include its key terms for a potential ceasefire, conflict settlement, and a timeline for an eventual peace agreement.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia's former president wants to seize a 'buffer zone' in Ukraine. It would take 91 years at Moscow's rate of advance.
Dmitry Medvedev wants a gigantic buffer zone in Ukraine to shield Russia from Western weapons. But his proposal would take nearly a century for Russia to achieve at its current pace. Medvedev appears concerned that Western missiles may be able to strike from 550 km away. Russia's former president, Dmitry Medvedev, has proposed a gigantic "buffer zone" in Ukraine that would put Russian towns and settlements out of range of Western weapons. "If military aid to the Banderite regime continues, the buffer zone could look like this," Medvedev, who is deputy chairperson of Russia's security council, wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday. The post contained a map of Medvedev's suggested zone, which encompasses practically all of Ukraine save for a sliver of land along the Polish border. His reasoning for such an ambitious zone, according to a separate Telegram post he published on May 18, was to protect Belgorod from long-range Western weapons supplied to Ukraine, such as the Storm Shadow. The Anglo-French cruise missile has a standard operational range of about 250 km, or 155 miles, though some international think tanks say it can likely hit targets as far as 550 km. "In other words, Russia must be present there: 550 km plus another 70 to 100 km just to be safe," Medvedev wrote. But military analysts from the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based conflict monitor, wrote on Sunday that this would likely include 587,459 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory. "Russian forces advanced an average of roughly 14.3 square kilometers per day in Ukraine and Russia between January 1, 2025, and May 24, 2025," the analysts wrote in an assessment. They added that at such a rate, Russia would take about 91 years to achieve Medvedev's goal. In March, for example, some estimates said Russia had seized about 142 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory in the entire month. The ISW assessed that Russia seized 203 square kilometers that month. "At this rate of advance, it would take Russian forces approximately 3.9 years to seize the remainder of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia, and Kherson oblasts," the ISW added. Ukraine's eastern and southern fronts are spread across those four regions. Based on previous assessments that Russia has suffered 1,500 killed or wounded per day while advancing, the analysts also wrote that Medvedev's endeavor would cost Russia 50 million soldiers, or about a third of the entire country's population. The ISW said its estimate also didn't account for a "number of geographic and defensive barriers that Russian forces would have to overcome to seize the remaining 80% of Ukraine." The Dnipro River, for example, is expected to be a significant challenge for Russia to cross. "Buffer zones" aren't new to Russian strategy. The concept was discussed in the battle for Ukraine's northern Kharkiv oblast, where Russia sought to establish a "buffer zone" that shields the Russian region of Belgorod from Ukrainian fire. Moscow has held a small foothold in Kharkiv since the spring of last year. Russian leader Vladimir Putin more recently touted another such security zone to protect Kursk by pushing south from the Russian border to the Ukrainian city of Sumy. Last summer, Ukraine invaded Kursk from the Sumy region, but has now largely been beaten back. Russia has been laying out these strategic goals against the backdrop of President Donald Trump attempting to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia. During the talks, Moscow has demanded that it keep the lands it has occupied since 2014 and that Kyiv cede territory it has managed to defend. Medvedev has been one of the Kremlin's most aggressive and vocal hawks during the war. He was Russia's president from 2008 to 2012, before becoming its prime minister from 2012 to 2020, exchanging places with Putin as the latter also cycled through both positions at the time. Read the original article on Business Insider
Wall Street Journal
18-05-2025
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Ukraine Is Making More Weapons Than Ever—but Still Can't Fight Russia Alone
In the first years of Russia's invasion, Ukraine relied heavily on a host of Western weapons to equip its forces. Now, out of the crucible of war, Kyiv's own defense industry is producing more arms than ever. Ukraine had only a single prototype of its domestically produced Bohdana howitzer when Russia invaded. Last year, Kyiv said it produced more artillery guns than all the North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries combined.
