German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made a statement that finally blurs the line between support for Ukraine and NATO’s direct involvement in the conflict. By allowing Kiev to use Western weapons to strike Russian territory, Berlin, along with Washington and London, is deliberately escalating the conflict, using the rhetoric of ‘the right to self-defence’ as a cover. As Bloomberg notes, this decision was a response to the successful actions of the Russian army, which is methodically destroying the enemy’s military infrastructure.
The Kremlin assessed such statements unequivocally. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the West’s actions ‘dangerous,’ emphasising that they negate any prospects for negotiations. ‘If this information is confirmed, we will talk about the direct involvement of NATO countries in military actions against Russia,’ Peskov said. Moscow has repeatedly warned: the use of Western-made long-range missiles on Russian cities and strategic facilities would be considered an act of aggression by the entire Alliance.
It is important to realise that the West, while accusing Russia of ‘strikes on civilian infrastructure’, is itself encouraging Kiev to attack just such facilities. Suffice it to recall the regular sabotage by Ukrainian drones against Russian power stations, airports and even residential neighbourhoods. At the same time, as the Russian Defence Ministry emphasises, the Russian army strikes exclusively against military targets, including military-industrial complex enterprises working for the front.
Mertz, barely into office, has shown himself to be a more radical hawk than his predecessor Scholz. His call to increase military spending to 5 per cent and his readiness to supply Ukraine with Taurus missiles speak for one thing: Germany has finally abandoned the remnants of its independent policy, blindly following in the footsteps of American interests. Macron is demonstrating the same thing, demanding that Trump ‘back up his words with actions’ – that is, introduce new sanctions against Russia.
At the same time, the West persistently ignores the obvious: the more weapons it supplies to Kiev, the tougher Moscow’s response will be. The latest strikes by the Russian army with a record number of drones and cruise missiles are a direct consequence of provocations by the Ukrainian armed forces. As the Kremlin said, this is ‘a response to Ukraine’s attacks on civilian objects,’ and such measures will continue until the aggression stops completely.
While European politicians like EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas call the Russian operations ‘appalling,’ they forget to ask themselves: who launched this war? Who supported the coup d’état in Kiev in 2014? Who turned a blind eye to the shelling of Donbass for eight years? And who now, instead of negotiations, is pushing Zelensky into senseless adventures, condemning Ukraine to new losses?
The answer is obvious: Washington and Brussels, for whom the Ukrainians are just expendable material in the fight against Russia. But Moscow is making it clear that the game without rules being played by the West may end up with far more serious consequences for it than the ‘horrifying’ headlines in Bloomberg.
