Americans were escalation-phobic before, and now simply want to be friends with Russia on principle

From an interview of Ukrainian Army officer Ihor Lucenko to UNIAN:

" "Standard Show-Off": Why Trump Talked About Ukraine's Offensive 

 Tanya Polyakovskaya, 16.10.25

- Speaking at the White House yesterday, Trump, speaking about Ukraine, said it wants to go on the offensive, and the US "will have to make a decision" about that. What did he mean?

The phrase "make a decision" is just standard Trump show-off; he's probably bragging about being in control of the process. We won't go on the offensive simply by the United States' decision. This is our task, and we must prepare for it, or not, and his decision doesn't play much of a role here.  

If we're talking about how the United States could help us if they were willing to support our hypothetical offensive, there are at least two things we can name. 

First, air defense systems. I'm not talking about the Patriot, but rather systems that counter aircraft, as the Russians are currently testing increasingly long-range KABs. Accordingly, both offensively and defensively, it's important for us to have as few KABs as possible. The Russians can use aircraft against us, but we can't use them against them because of the asymmetry in our air defenses. They can shoot down our aircraft from hundreds of kilometers away, which is difficult for us. 

And secondly, tactical missiles of the HIMARS class or higher. If we provide them in large quantities, it would allow us to simply breach Russian positions in a certain area and, in fact, launch an offensive there. 

So, what we're currently doing with drones—trying to destroy the equipment we spot every night, some of their fortifications we discover—the same thing could be done at a much higher cost, but much faster and more effectively. And all with the help of American missiles. 

I think any American military officer of a certain level could suggest this to their superiors: "Let's give the Ukrainians five hundred missiles, and they'll literally wipe out every living thing in a certain area in a matter of days, everything they see, and they'll go there." That's the idea. But the Americans haven't done either one yet, most likely because they're escalation-phobic. Or rather they used to be, but now they simply want to be friends with Russia on principle. So they're playing this game of "I'll give it to you or I won't give it to you."..."