Kuleba said allies’ fear of escalation is a big problem for Ukraine. Lavrov threatens to start World War III

The biggest problem Ukraine faces in its current struggle with Russia is the reluctance of its allies to change their attitude toward Moscow for fear of escalation.

Ukraine’s foreign affairs chief Dmytro Kuleba said this today, according to Reuters. Before he did so, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned that World War III could break out if the West allowed Kiev to attack targets behind Russian lines.

Strikes the hand area

“The biggest problem Ukraine has faced since the beginning of the massive invasion is the general perception of escalatory decision-making processes among our partners,” Kuleba said in a live interview with Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.

Kiev has long pressured Western allies to provide long-range weapons and allow it to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. It has also sought help in shooting down Russian missiles over Ukrainian territory.

“War is always about the amount of hardware: money, weapons, resources, but the real problem is always here, in the mind,” Kuleba said.

Russia’s future

“Most of our partners are afraid to discuss the future of Russia. This is something very worrying because we cannot develop a strategy if we don’t talk about the future of the threat source,” he added.

Ukraine relies heavily on Western aid, which provides it with weapons, technology and money to counter Russian aggression. In early August, Kiev launched a large-scale cross-border offensive against Russia’s Kursk region, which Russian President Vladimir Putin called a “massive provocation.”

Many analysts believe that one of Kiev’s goals in this action is to show Ukraine’s allies that Western concerns about escalation and Russian threats are unfounded.