Anything Zelensky had to say Thursday at the close of the NATO summit in Washington was overshadowed by President Biden's verbal flub where he introduced the Ukrainian leader as "President Putin".
But among the more interesting statements of Zelensky was the demand for his Western backers, especially the US, to lift all restrictions on arms used to attack inside Russian territory.
"If we want to win, if we want to prevail, if we want to save our country and to defend it, we need to lift all the limitations," Zelensky said while standing alongside NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in the summit's closing session.
The Ukrainian president argued that this is crucial for "having Ukraine on the map" and not allowing Russia to "attack half of the planet."
"That is a crazy question why we can’t answer and attack these… military bases from where these guided bombs from jets or missiles came, targeted us and killed our children," Zelensky continued, clearly criticizing his own more powerful backers.
So far the White House has greenlighted using US-weapons against Russian territory from which its forces are attacking, thus confining strikes to not far inside Russia's border.
President Biden at his evening press conference responded to Zelensky's words, based on a reporter's question, and showed an unwillingness to change policy (at least for now) based on Kiev's demands. Referencing his national security and defense advisers, Biden said:
"If he had the capacity to strike Moscow, strike the Kremlin, would that make sense?" Biden said of Zelenskyy. He later added, "We’re making it on a day-to-day basis ... how far they should go in" to Russian territory.
Thus he did acknowledge that this dangerous, escalatory policy which threatens to draw Washington directly into the fight could change at any moment.
Finnish president @alexstubb says that Ukraine’s path towards @NATO membership is irreversible. He also emphasized just how important continued support for Ukraine is. pic.twitter.com/mOPfPgV5rU
— TVP World (@TVPWorld_com) July 10, 2024
Among the other aspects to the NATO summit which suggests further escalation with Russia is that Ukraine was offered an "irreversible" path toward membership. According to what is spelled out in the annual summit's final communique:
It said Ukraine had made "concrete progress" on "required democratic, economic, and security reforms" in recent months - but that a formal membership invitation would only be extended when "conditions are met".
"As Ukraine continues this vital work, we will continue to support it on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including Nato membership," the statement added.
Russia responded to this, with former Russian president and top national security adviser Dmitry Medvedev saying that this means either Ukraine must go or NATO must go altogether.
The Washington Summit Declaration of July 10 mentions “the irreversible path of Ukraine” to NATO. For Russia, 2 possible ways of how this path ends are acceptable: either Ukraine disappears, or NATO does. Still better, both.
— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) July 11, 2024
He said Thursday: "The conclusion is obvious. We have to do everything to make sure that the ‘irreversible path of Ukraine’ towards NATO ends with either the disappearance of Ukraine, or the disappearance of NATO. Better, both."
Medvedev's fiery words suggest the Kremlin sees this increasingly as a growing and direct conflict with the whole of the Western military alliance, and not just with Ukraine forces.
