Biden administration tries to prevent Trump from ending war in Ukraine — expert

SHANGHAI, November 18. /TASS/. The outgoing Biden administration may opt for an escalation of the conflict in Ukraine to prevent Donald Trump from ending it in the short term, Wang Wen, Executive Dean of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, told TASS.
“The Biden administration’s decision to lift the restriction prohibiting Ukraine from using US-provided weapons to attack targets deep inside Russia is a very dangerous political move, as well as an extremely conspiratorial and destructive one aimed at leaving a serious burden and trap for the next Trump administration,” the expert said.
In his opinion, the Ukrainian conflict acts as a negative factor for the Biden administration. “The Biden administration believes that this ‘negative asset’ can become a positive one if the Trump administration stops the war in the short term, but this is unacceptable for the predecessors [the Biden administration]. At present, it seems that the Biden administration will only stop if it escalates the conflict to a level that would be unacceptable to the Trump administration,” Wang Wen opined.
The expert called the next few months a “high-risk period” in the conflict. According to him, the Biden administration and Zelensky will try to expand the conflict and use more powerful weapons to force Russia to counterattack more actively, thus preventing Trump from ending the war in the short term. It may also turn out, the expert said, that Trump may even have to increase aid to Ukraine if it finds itself in an extremely difficult situation.
Earlier, the French newspaper Le Figaro wrote that US President Joe Biden had given Kiev permission to use ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles to strike deep into Russian territory. According to it, France and the United Kingdom had given similar permission to use their SCALP and Storm Shadow missiles. The newspaper later removed the article from its website without explanation. French Foreign Minister Jean-No·l Barrot said that Paris had not changed its position on strikes deep into Russia. The German cabinet, in turn, said that the United States had informed Berlin of the decision to authorize attacks deep into Russia.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov recalled that Moscow’s position on the Ukrainian strikes by US missiles deep into Russian territory was clearly and unambiguously formulated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in September. According to him, this decision means a “qualitatively new round of escalation of tensions.”