Is Putin now 'running scared'?

Making Putin practically foam at the mouth, James Gordon (left) reports that,

"U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has suggested the United States is contemplating allowing Ukraine to use American-supplied weapons to directly strike Russian territory, given the changing dynamics on the battlefield in Ukraine.
...
He said  Ukraine 'has to make its own decisions about the best way to effectively defend itself. We're going to make sure that it has the equipment it needs to do that.'" (Mail Online: 30 May 2024) (my emphasis) 

Mail Online: 30 May 2024

And as reported by AP News,

 "France’s president has joined the head of NATO in pushing for a policy shift that could change the complexion of the war in Ukraine — allowing Kyiv to strike military bases inside Russia with sophisticated long-range weapons provided by Western partners.
...

France 24 : 2 May 2924 : YouTube

His remarks came a day after NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged the alliance’s members to lift some of the restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons.

“The right to self-defense includes hitting legitimate targets outside Ukraine,” Stoltenberg said at a NATO meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria on Monday." (AP News : 29 May 2024) (my emphasis) 

Interestingly, even Geram Chancellor Scholtz seesm now to be coming on board in allowing Kyiv to strike military bases inside Russia with sophisticated long-range weapons provided by Western partners.

As reported by Michel Rose, Sarah Marsh, Emma-Victoria Farr and Andreas Rinke,

"France and Germany's leaders said on Tuesday Ukraine should be allowed to hit military sites inside Russia from which missiles were being fired at Ukrainian territory, but not other targets.
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Scholz said he agreed with Macron and that as long as Ukraine respected the conditions given by countries that supplied the weapons, including the United States, and international law, it was allowed to defend itself.

"Ukraine has every possibility under international law for what it is doing. That has to be said explicitly," Scholz said." (Reuters : 28 May 2024) (my emphasis)

Euronews : 29 May 2024 : YouTube

As was to be expected,

"Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West earlier in the day that NATO members in Europe were playing with fire by proposing to let Ukraine use Western-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia, which he said could trigger a global conflict." (ibid Michel Rose, Sarah Marsh, Emma-Victoria Farr and Andreas Rinke)

As Guy Faulconbridge (left) also reports,

"Constant escalation can lead to serious consequences," Putin told reporters in Tashkent. "If these serious consequences occur in Europe, how will the United States behave, bearing in mind our parity in the field of strategic weapons?" (Reuters : 29 May 2024) (my emphasis)

 Is it, therefore, any wonder that Putin's 'dyed-in-the-wool' Soviet foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov (right), is now scambling for Xi Jinping of China to be peace-maker in Putin's war with Ukraine.

As reported by Reuters,

"China could arrange a peace conference in which Russia and Ukraine would participate, the RIA news agency cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Thursday.
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"We share (China's) position that the root causes of the conflict need to be addressed in the first place and legal interests of all parties need to be protected, with subsequent agreements based on the principle of equal and indivisible security," Lavrov said in an interview with the agency." (Reuters:30 May 2024) (my emphasis)

Xi Jinping's proposals include:

     Respecting the sovereignty of all countries
     Abandoning the Cold War mentality
     Ceasing hostilities
     Resuming peace talks
     Resolving the humanitarian crisis
     Protecting civilians and prisoners of war (POWs)
     Keeping nuclear power plants safe
     Reducing strategic risks
     Facilitating grain exports
     Stopping unilateral sanctions
     Keeping industrial and supply chains stable
     Promoting post-conflict reconstruction (Yahoo News (Ukrainska Pravda) : 24 February 2023)    

Could Sergei Lavrov's current 'Chinese' peace proposal have anything to do with Ukraine now given the 'green light' to strike military targets inside Putin's Russia?

Putin seems to have forgotten that it was he who was ' playing with fire' when he invaded and annexed Ukraine's Crimea in 2014, then went on to invade Ukraine's Donbas, and finallly further 'stoked the fire' that he started when he declared war on Ukraine in 2022.

Is Putin now 'running scared'?

UPDATE : 30 May 2024 : 21.53

Lydia Chantler-Hicks reports that, 

"Joe Biden (right) has given Ukraine the go-ahead to use American weapons to strike inside Russia, according to reports.

The US president has green-lit the strikes only for the limited purpose of defending the city of Kharkiv, US media reported on Thursday night, citing two US officials.
.....
The move comes as Ukrainian officials have stepped up calls on the US administration to allow its forces to defend itself against attacks originating from Russian territory.

Mr Biden's decision was first reported by Politico. (Evening Standard on Microsoft Start :30 May 2024) (my emphasis) (cf also: Politico : 29 May 2024)

No wonder Putin is 'running scared'!

 

 

 

(to be continued)