Biden administration, behind declared solidarity with Ukraine, harbors hesitations – Technologist

“I don’t think much about Vladimir Putin,” Joe Biden curtly replied, on Friday, September 13, to a reporter’s question, while receiving British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House. The day before, the Russian president had reacted to rumors that the United States had given Kyiv the green light to trigger deep missile strikes within Russian territory. According to Putin, such a decision “would mean that NATO countries, the US and European countries are at war with Russia.” Despite Biden’s nonchalant phrase, such a warning has not been taken lightly by Western countries.

One of Kyiv’s insistent requests concerns the use of ballistic missiles known as Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS). Washington is hardly enthusiastic about the prospect. Shaped by the Cold War, Biden has always been driven by the fear of escalation with Russia, whether it be nuclear or conventional in nature.

The Pentagon has also insisted that no weapons system is decisive in and of itself, and that the main Ukrainian problem is that of human mobilization capacity. Finally, the White House would like to see neither side target energy infrastructure, which would imply some form of moratorium between the parties to the conflict.

Before Starmer’s visit, several American media outlets had reported that the Biden administration intended to authorize such strikes, but only those performed without American missiles, only allowing Kyiv to use British Storm Shadows or French SCALPs. However, on Friday, the White House announced that its position had not changed at this stage.

Discussions could continue in New York, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, due to take place in around 10 days’ time. Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, will be there to present Biden, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump with a plan to move toward peace. For the moment, he has expressed his frustration over long-range missiles. “It’s difficult to repeatedly hear, ‘We are working on this,’ while Putin continues to burn down our cities and villages,” Zelensky wrote on X, on Friday.

Allied annoyance

Yet it’s exactly this kind of public pressure that has caused irritation among his allies. They have considered Ukraine’s diplomacy to be more noisy than effective, particularly when it comes to the countries of the Global South. Too many initiatives and conferences, and not enough discreet work on a possible political solution to the conflict.

According to several sources, this message was conveyed to Zelensky during a meeting at the White House on August 30. Jake Sullivan, US national security advisor to President Biden, brought together his British counterpart Tim Barrow, the Elysée’s diplomatic advisor Emmanuel Bonne and Germany’s Jens Plötner. They were joined by the head of the office of the Ukrainian president, Andriy Yermak.

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