The fear of Kiev

There is a very negative feeling among Ukrainians regarding the visits of Trump's special envoy to Moscow to speak with Putin. This was well-remembered by the SIC correspondent in Kyiv: whenever they met, on that same day or the next, the Russians launched a massive attack on Ukraine. Therefore, there are already fears about this new visit.

Things always go very well, but nothing progresses—at least that we know of—and the "menu" for this visit was exactly the same as the previous one. Let's see what the military outcome is against Ukraine, and what tangible data might emerge from this meeting, which was always full of smiles on both sides and maintained a conciliatory tone.

Interestingly, after the meeting, Trump, in Washington, announced that he would move forward with sanctions as quickly as possible. If that were the case, the trip to Moscow was nothing more than business as usual. Trump knows that the sanctions are not producing any visible effect and, at this stage, has no strong card to play.

The American president's only option to avoid this scenario is to arm the Ukrainians to the teeth, particularly with all the necessary anti-missile and anti-drone equipment, and allow the deployment of more sophisticated weapons capable of reaching Russia in depth. In other words: if another strong attack is carried out, Ukraine will have to respond in kind. Surprising as it may seem, the Russians lack sophisticated missile and drone interception equipment—and this weakness has already been made clear. Therefore, Kyiv awaits another massive attack.