'Merciless irony': Trump-Putin assembly in Budapest, 'the place Ukraine’s safety was as soon as assured'

Peter Zalmayev, Director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative, calls the US choice to probably present Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine a welcome “escalation”, one which has clearly unsettled Vladimir Putin, even when it could not decisively alter the battlefield. Whereas the symbolism and strategic leverage of such weapons are important: they may allow Ukraine to hold out asymmetrical warfare, focusing on Russia’s oil manufacturing and refining capability, deepening its financial pressure. All of the whereas, Putin is biding for time and “being rewarded, unjustly” by Trump, with a gathering in a really symbolic European capital: Budapest, the place, “in a merciless twist of irony”, 1994 the US, UK, and Russia assured Ukraine’s safety in trade for nuclear disarmament.[/gpt3]