In the midst of the Trump Administration’s reported efforts to restart talks about a Ukraine settlement, U.S. ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker is telling the Europeans they need to be “more aggressive” with Russia. He called on the EU to move forward with the plan to tap immobilized Russian central bank assets in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Berlin. It would be a “significant step” in shoring up Kiev’s dwindling financing for “several years,” economically and militarily, he said. “I think it would also point to a new step—a more aggressive Europe,” he said. “The time for them to act boldly is now.”
At the same time, the Ukrainian general staff claimed on Nov. 18 that it had used U.S.-made ATACMS missiles against military targets in Russia, after months in which a Pentagon review process effectively blocked such strikes, reported [https://kyivindependent.com/ukraine-strikes-russia-with-atacms-for-the-first-time/] the Kyiv Independent.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that Ukrainian forces fired four ATACMS at the city of Voronezh but that Russian S-400 and Pantsir air defenses had shot down all four of them.
