By Olayinka Ajayi

As reactions continue to trail outgoing United States President Joe Bidden’s nod for Kyiv to use U.S. weapons for strikes deep inside Russia, a major policy shift that drew a furious response from the Kremlin yesterday, accusing the administration of pouring “oil on the fire” two months before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, Nigeria’s former Career Ambassador to Thailand with accreditation to Myanmar, Olufunso Olumoko has insisted that the introduction of long-range missiles on the part of Ukraine signifies not only a strategic but a doctrinal shift.

He said the implication is that all Ukraine’s allies are now legitimate targets of Russian attacks.

According to Olumoko, “Although the report is not yet official on the part of the US, a few members of NATO, like Germany, are having some reservations either for bilateral strategic reasons or for implications of a wider war.

“If this is confirmed to be the official position of the US for Ukraine to deploy US-supplied long-ranged missiles to attack Russia within the Russian territory, then it marks a major shift in US doctrine in the ongoing Russia/Ukraine war. Russia, in turn, has threatened the use of tactical nuclear weapons!“ This shift may be due to counter the entry of North Korean troops into the war fighting on the side of Russia and also to enhance Ukraine’s bargaining position in the event that the war ends over a negotiated settlement. The deployment of long-range missiles will, tactically, enable Ukraine to hold on to the swarth of the Kursk region of Russia that she has captured, weaken the Russian offensive by attacking Russian military targets deep in the Russian territory, and strengthen Ukraine’s hands in negotiations over Ukraine’s territories, in particular, in the south and east of Ukraine already under the control of Russia, like Cremia, Luhansk, and Donetsk, among others.

“Of course, the introduction of long-range missiles on the part of Ukraine signifies not only a strategic but a doctrinal shift. One clear implication now is that all Ukraine’s allies are now legitimate targets of Russian attacks! It would be recalled that President Biden had for a long time refused to supply Ukraine with long-range missiles because he wanted to shore up Ukraine’s defensive capability against Russian aggression. Besides, he did not want to involve NATO forces, given the implications for NATO doctrine.

“The elephant in the room right now is the re-election of Donald Trump! Biden will like to strengthen Ukraine before Trump assumes the presidency and likely throw Ukraine “under the bus.”