europe. another tightrope for biden to navigate in the months ahead. peter bowes, bbc news. the central bank did raise the cost of borrowing in america by .75 of a percent, the steepest rise in interest rates for many many years and we will be discussing all of that in detail, implications and market reaction later in our business coverage, but now. steve fish is politics professor at the university of california, berkeley, where hejoins me now. a warm welcome to the programme, let s touch on that issue peter outlined at the end of his report there, the huge amount of money that the us is committing to the war in ukraine, the latest, and $1 billion in military support. how is that going down in the
president vladimir putin warned the west that russia would strike new targets in ukraine if western countries sent it long range weapons. if long range missiles are going to be supplied, we will strike those targets which we have not been hitting. so will these long range rocket systems being sent to ukraine make a difference? here s steve fish, politics professor at the university of california berkeley. it could make a big difference. these weapons systems, these rocket launchers actually have a range that is over twice of what ukraine s rocket launchers have right now. they ve been using howitzers, which have a range of about half of the 80 or so kilometres that the new systems that are being sent in have. this will really enable the ukrainians, possibly, to push russia back out of the territories that it already occupies in
so will these long range rocket systems being sent to ukraine make a difference? here s steve fish, politics professor at the university of california berkeley. it could make a big difference. these weapons systems, these rocket launchers actually have a range that is over twice of what ukraine s rocket launchers have right now. they ve been using howitzers, which have a range of about half of the 80 or so kilometres that the new systems that are being sent in have. this will really enable the ukrainians, possibly, to push russia back out of the territories that it already occupies in the east and south of ukraine. so this could be a game changer. interestingly, we were sort of hearing about hopes that severodonetsk will be reclaimed by the ukrainians, these would help in that sort of scenario? they absolutely would. and beyond severodonetsk, they would help across all of east ukraine. you know, the russians are so far, they win territory just by bombing it indiscriminately with their
vitaliy said, because if they are standing here, the russians will hit civilians. those troops are nearby, defending their territory. the city of severodonetsk is the current focus of russia s offensive. it had been thought the city was all but lost to the ukrainians, but then, over the last 2a hours, they say they have launched a successful counter attack. translation: our chancesl of retaking the city are high. severodonetsk is of symbolic importance only, not militarily or strategic. lysychansk is much more important because it is located on the hill. it is easier for the military to defend and strike. all the while, the donbas continues to empty. people in towns like slavyansk know that as long as russia is on their doorstep, they will not be safe if they stay. joe inwood, bbc news, kyiv. steve fish is a politics
russian president vladimir putin says he will recognise two breakaway regions of east ukraine, and he s sending troops there. the un secretary general describes the russian move as a blatant violation of international law and the un security council is meeting in the next few hours. more now on our top story. steve fish is a politics professor at the university of california, berkeley. he told me monday s development s have made putin s well, the mask is off today, isn t it? many of the west hope that all vladimir putin really wanted was security assurances that the ukraine would notjoin nato. that s always been a hollow hope. ukraine is part of russia. all of ukrainian territories part of russia and