Ben Hodges, a retired U.S. Army General who served as the commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, commented on The New York Times‘ article that the United States’ authorisation of Ukraine to strike with long-range weapons deep into russia is ‘too risky a decision’.
He stated that the US has ‘an excessive fear of putin’.
In particular, US intelligence believes that allowing Ukraine to do so would provoke a ‘strong’ response from russia, and that the effectiveness of such strikes is questionable, as Ukraine does not have many long-range missiles and it is unclear whether the allies will be able to provide new ones.
Possible responses from russia include increased sabotage in Europe, such as arson attacks, and attacks on European and American military bases. The first option is considered more likely by US intelligence.
‘European leaders are saying something different, and acting differently. Which means their intelligence analysts are handing them different analysis. We seem predisposed towards excessive fear of what Putin says and have been consistently wrong since Putin took power,’ – the general wrote on his Twitter account.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly asked the West to allow the use of long-range weapons to strike russian territory and to give Kyiv more such missiles.
Ukraine has already received US ATACMS, British Storm Shadow and French Scalp missiles.
During his visit to the United States, Zelenskyy reportedly met with President Joe Biden, but there were no statements about long-range weapons. White House spokeswoman Karin Jean-Pierre said that the meeting between the two leaders did not result in ‘any new announcements’ about allowing Ukraine to strike deep into russia with Western weapons.