05/30/2024

Kyiv and Western Powers Struggle to Coordinate as Ukraine Stumbles in War

Infighting and strategic disagreements are clouding Ukraine’s path

Sharp fractures are opening between Kyiv and its Western backers, including the United States, over the future of Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion. Ukrainian leaders have increasingly complained that Washington is restricting their ability to respond to Russian attacks as U.S. policymakers push them to do more to fight corruption even amid the worsening war. Meanwhile, European and American officials are quarreling about strategy to turn the tide on the battlefield.

There have been frustrations virtually from the moment Russia’s invasion began in February 2022, but policymakers in Washington, Kyiv and around Europe said tensions have grown sharper in recent weeks as Russia has seized the initiative on the front lines and started recapturing territory liberated earlier in the war.

The sharpest battlefield disagreement at the moment is whether Ukraine can use donated weapons to strike targets on Russian soil. The Biden administration has strictly prohibited Ukraine from using U.S. weaponry to do so because it fears that the heavy U.S. involvement required to operate the weapons could escalate the war into a direct conflict between Washington and Moscow, though it is reexamining its policy.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.