Laura Laplaud
modified to
8:52 a.m., April 30, 2022
More than two months after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States wants to deliver 20 billion dollars of military equipment. A strategy that seems to be more and more offensive. “We are not attacking Russia. We are helping Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aggression”, justified Joe Biden. But can this sending of arms be considered belligerent?
Sending tanks, rocket launchers and cannons to Ukraine, will a new turning point in the war take place? Joe Biden has announced that he has asked Congress to vote on a new aid plan for Ukraine in the amount of 33 billion dollars, of which 20 billion would be intended for offensive military equipment. “It’s a change of footing from the United States to support [l’Ukraine] with offensive weapons to put Russia in a situation of defeat,” said Elie Tenenbaum, director of security studies at IFRI, the French Institute for International Relations, guest of Jean-Pierre Elkabbach on Saturday.
A confrontation between Russia and the United States?
France, for its part, has pledged to deliver 100 million euros worth of military equipment, including Milan missiles and Caesar guns. “The delivery of weapons as such does not constitute belligerence in international law”, assured Elie Tenenbaum on Europe 1 / CNews. “Either you are one of the parties to a conflict and in this case you have forces fighting in the conflict, or you are not part of a conflict and there is no embargo on arms sales in Ukraine.”
“It is the question of a Ukrainian reconquest to which the United States agrees, which was not the case during the first two months of the conflict”, noted Elie Tenenbaum. A position that will inevitably have strategic consequences, says the director of security studies at IFRI. “Russia is watching this very closely, obviously they can decide to anticipate more interference, potentially with strikes in Ukraine or even beyond.”
“We are in support of a State which is attacked, a legitimate support and which does not pose a problem in international law but which obviously creates tensions, and it is quite normal, with the opposing party which is Russia”, he concluded. The head of the Kremlin has not hesitated on several occasions in recent weeks to reiterate his nuclear threats.