Ekonom: Pemerintah Harus Jujur Situasi Kemiskinan RI Untuk Ikuti Saran Bank Dunia

Direktur Indonesia Development and Islamic Studies (IDEAS) Yusuf Wibisono menanggapi soal pemerintah yang tetap menargetkan kemiskinan ekstrem 0 persen pada 2024. Target tersebut serang disampaikan oleh beberapa menteri, termasuk Presiden Joko Widodo alias Jokowi.

Pengamat kebijakan publik dari Universitas Trisaksi Jakarta, Trubus Rahadiansyah, menilai pemerintah enggan memperbarui garis kemiskinan yang direkomendasikan Bank Dunia karena citranya. Dia berpendapat, pemerintah akan malu jika angka kemiskinan ternyata lebih tinggi.

Menurut dia, pemerintah tidak boleh mengingkari kenyataan. Standar Bank Dunia tidak salah arah karena merupakan standar internasional yang dibuat melalui studi.

“Pemerintah jangan sampai mengabaikannya. Jangan menyangkalnya. Malah memperburuk citra Indonesia, bahwa kita miskin tapi tidak mau mengakuinya,” kata Trubus. “Standar Indonesia sudah kadaluarsa. Situasi pasca-pandemi juga telah berubah.”

Satu Kahkonen, Country Director Bank Dunia Indonesia, menyatakan bahwa selama 20 tahun terakhir, Indonesia telah mencapai kemajuan yang luar biasa dalam kehidupan ekonomi masyarakat. Kemiskinan ekstrim negara itu mencapai 1,5 persen pada tahun 2022

Namun, untuk mencapai target ambisiusnya menjadi negara berpenghasilan tinggi, Kahkonen berpendapat bahwa Indonesia harus memperluas kebijakannya untuk menjaga kemajuan pengentasan kemiskinan dan mencapai pendapatan yang lebih tinggi serta ketahanan ekonomi bagi masyarakatnya.

“Bila kita menerapkan definisi kemiskinan yang lebih luas, satu dari enam orang Indonesia atau sekitar 40 juta adalah miskin,” kata Kahkonen dalam peluncuran laporan Kajian Kemiskinan Indonesia di The Energy Building, SCBD, Jakarta, Selasa, 9 Mei 2023.

Selain itu, hampir 120 juta orang Indonesia tidak aman secara ekonomi. Artinya, mereka bisa jatuh miskin saat terkena guncangan, seperti pandemi COVID-19. “Kami di sini untuk membahas apa yang bisa dilakukan untuk mendukung 160 juta orang ini mencapai ketahanan ekonomi,” kata Kahkonen.

Menanggapi hal tersebut, Menko Perekonomian Airlangga Hartarto menyatakan bahwa Indonesia tidak harus mengikuti garis kemiskinan Bank Dunia. “Seperti yang dikatakan Menkeu, kita masih berpegang pada [garis kemiskinan] US$2 per hari. Kita bisa menghitungnya berdasarkan PPI (Poverty Probability Index),” ujarnya di GBK Senayan, Minggu, 14 Mei 2018. “Jadi bisa berbeda dengan standar Bank Dunia.”

Namun menurut Yusuf Wibisono, Bank Dunia memberikan kritik atas target tersebut karena target angka kemiskinan ekstrem 0 persen ini adalah target yang dianggap "terlalu mudah" diraih. Alasannya karena ukuran garis kemiskinan yang digunakan untuk mendefinisikan kemiskinan ekstrem terlalu rendah.

“Target kemiskinan ekstrem 0 persen pada 2024, sudah lama mendapatkan banyak kritik, bahkan dari Bank Dunia (World Bank),” ujar dia saat dihubungi pada Rabu, 7 Juni 2023.

Untuk membandingkan angka kemiskinan antar negara di kategori lower middle income countries, Bank Dunia menggunakan ukuran batasan kemiskinan internasional berdasarkan US$ purchasing power parity (PPP). “Yakni sebesar US$ 1,9 PPP sebagai batas extreme poverty dan US$ 3,2 PPP sebagai batas poverty,” kata dia.

Dengan ukuran extreme poverty US$ 1,9 PPP, angka kemiskinan Indonesia pada 2022 hanya tinggal 1,5 persen. Yusuf menilai, ini adalah angka kemiskinan ekstrem, yang ditargetkan oleh pemerintah menjadi 0 persen pada 2024.

Ukuran US$ 1,9 PPP tentu target kemiskinan ekstrem 0 persen pada 2024 menjadi terlihat akan mudah tercapai. “Pemerintah sendiri menghitung angka kemiskinan ekstrem pada 2022 ada di kisaran 2 persen,” tutur Yusuf.

Bahkan, kata dia, Bank Dunia memberikan saran, untuk evaluasi kinerja penanggulangan kemiskinan yang lebih baik. Seharusnya Indonesia tidak lagi menggunakan ukuran US$ 1,9 PPP, namun menggunakan ukuran US$ 3,2 PPP.

“Menurut saya, rekomendasi Bank Dunia ini sangat baik dan relevan bagi Indonesia, yang kini digadang-gadang akan segera naik kelas dari lower middle income countries menjadi upper middle income countries,” ucap dia.

Dengan perubahan ukuran kemiskinan US$ 3,2 PPP, menurut dia, itu lebih relevan untuk Indonesia yang bersiap naik kelas menjadi upper middle income countries. Juga akan memberi implikasi penting untuk formulasi strategi pertumbuhan ekonomi yang lebih inklusif.

Namun, Yusuf menilai, pemerintah terlihat resisten dengan usulan Bank Dunia ini, dengan alasan utama karena menyebabkan jumlah penduduk miskin akan bertambah signifikan. “Secara politik hal ini tentu tidak menguntungkan bagi penguasa, terlebih menjelang pemilu,” ujar Yusuf.

Sebelumnya, Menteri Perencanaan Pembangunan Nasional atau Kepala Bappenas Suharso Monoarfa menjelaskan soal target kemiskinan ekstrem tersebut. “Pemerintah optimis angka kemiskinan ekstrem di Indonesia pada 2024 mendekati 0 persen,” kata Suharso.

Sehingga, dia berujar, itu menjadi modal untuk strategi di dalam Rancangan Pembangunan Jangka Panjang Nasional (RPJPN) 2025-2045. Selain kemiskinan ekstrem, Suharso menjelaskan, di Indonesia juga ada kemiskinan lain yakni kemiskinan desil satu dan desil dua. "Itu kita lihat," kata dia.

France stabbing: Four children wounded in Annecy knife attack

Four toddlers and two pensioners were stabbed in a knife attack in the tranquil French mountain town of Annecy on Thursday and the government said the suspected assailant was a Syrian refugee.

A video of the attack, taken by a bystander and verified by Reuters, showed the assailant jump a low wall into a children's playground and repeatedly lunge at a child in a stroller, pushing aside a woman who tries to fend him off.

Two of the wounded children and one adult were in hospital in a life-threatening condition, while the other victims were less seriously hurt.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said the suspected attacker, who was in police custody, was a 31-year old Syrian national who was granted asylum in Sweden 10 years ago. He had entered France legally, she said, and was carrying Swedish identity documents and a Swedish driving licence.

The local prosecutor leading the investigation said there was no indication that terrorism was the assailant's motivation. He was under investigation for attempted murder.

The four children were just toddlers, aged between 22 months and three years, Annecy prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis told reporters.

One of them was a British national, another was Dutch, Bonnet-Mathis said.

As the assailant, who wore a blue-chequered headscarf and sunglasses, slashed at his victims, one bystander tried to stop him by throwing his backpack at him, the video showed.

Police have not publicly released the suspect's name.

A woman identified as his ex-wife told BFM TV that her former partner was a Christian.

"He does not call me for four months. (Our relationship) stopped because we lived in Sweden and he did not want to live in Sweden anymore," she told BFM TV, adding that he had not previously shown a violent streak.

French news agency AFP reported the assailant was carrying a prayer book on his person when he launched his attack

COURT CONVICTION

The incident took place at around 0745 GMT in Le Paquier park in Annecy, a town in the French Alps.

"He clearly targeted the babies," a witness who gave his name as Ferdinand told BFM TV.

President Emmanuel Macron said his country was in shock, calling the attack "an act of absolute cowardice".

Swedish court documents seen by Reuters showed the suspect - whose name Reuters confirmed with police - was fined for fraud in Sweden in 2022 for claiming unemployment and student benefits at the same time.

The ruling said that he had struggled financially and at one point had had to sell his wife's jewellery to make ends meet.

The attack ended when police shot at the suspect and then overpowered him, an eyewitness video verified by Reuters showed.

He was not injured, the prosecutor said.

Several witnesses described Le Paquier park as an usually tranquil place popular with tourists for its stunning views of Lake Annecy and the mountains.

"It's a place where babysitters and parents take young children to play. I often see around 15 toddlers there in the morning, and the atmosphere is fantastic," said Yohan, who works at an ice-cream parlour just opposite the park.

French soldiers secure the area after several children and an adult have been injured in a knife attack in Annecy, in the French Alps, France, June 8, 2023. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse

France has been shocked by a number of violent incidents over the past few months, including the fatal stabbing last month of a nurse in the northern town of Reims.

Macron has denounced what he calls a "de-civilisation process" in the country, while opposition lawmakers say his government has been too lax on law and order.

"Nothing more abominable than to attack children," National Assembly speaker Yael Braun-Pivet said on Twitter. Parliament observed a minute of silence to mark the incident.

'Major disinformation': Belarusian president on Ukrainian counteroffensive

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
©Ilya Pitalev/POOL/TASS

The Kiev regime’s much-hyped counteroffensive is simply disinformation, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said.

"The three days of the ‘counteroffensive’: what we’re observing and the information we’ve received from the Russian president are in complete congruence. Over three days, about three dozen advancing Ukrainian tanks and 120 or 130 infantry fighting vehicles have been eliminated, and, what’s most horrible, more than 2,100 Ukrainians have been killed, with slightly over 70 [fatalities] on this side. This is the result of this attempt at a counteroffensive. Well, I’ve always said this, the counteroffensive is a major piece of disinformation. There is no counteroffensive and cannot be a counteroffensive, but if there is one, then here’s the result from it over three days," he said at a meeting in Minsk with members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Committee of Security Council Secretaries.

According to Lukashenko, the Kiev regime’s Western handlers are currently scrambling to analyze the causes of Ukraine’s military failures.

"Yesterday I talked with [Russian President] Vladimir Vladimirovich [Putin] and we are absolutely of the same opinion that the current situation is all about the West, which is fighting there, waiting to see the results of the ‘counteroffensive,’ and naturally, if not for all the Western weapons and mercenaries, the whole thing would have ended long ago," the Belarusian leader added.

Shoigu: Ukraine Loses 350 Troops After Failing to Break Russian Defense

Up to 1,500 Ukrainian military attempted to break through Russian defense lines on Wednesday night, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Thursday.

"Today at 1:30 a.m. (local time, 22:30 GMT on Wednesday), the enemy totaling up to 1,500 military and 150 armored vehicles attempted to break through our defense in the Zaporozhye direction," Shoigu told reporters.

Ukraine lost up to 350 military, as well as 30 tanks and 11 infantry fighting vehicles as a result of a two-hour battle, the minister said.

"The reconnaissance forces detected the enemy in a timely manner, delivered a preventive strike by artillery, aviation and anti-tank weapons," Shoigu said. Kiev has been promising a "counter-offensive" for the past month, but Ukrainian troops have failed to advance, only losing several key positions, including the city of Artemovsk in the DPR. However, Ukraine has boosted its activity on the frontlines following Kiev's attack on the Novaya Kakhovka dam, which led to the flooding of a major area in Russia's Kherson region.

Watch Russian Ka-52 'Alligator' Attack Helicopter Fire at Enemy

The Kamov Ka-52 attack helicopter, in service with Russia's Air Force, is capable of effectively eliminating enemy targets in combat zones, while also swiftly dodging retaliatory fire.

Russian Air Force Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopter crews have been shown in combat in footage released by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

As part of Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine, Ka-52s fired unguided bombs to engage Ukrainian positions.

The precise strike at the designated target was confirmed by a forward air controller.

The Ka-52 Alligator is a twin-seat all-weather attack helicopter developed by the Kamov Design Bureau, based on the Ka-50 Black Shark helicopter.

EU Fails to Agree New Sanctions Against Russia as Economic Pinch Takes Toll

The European Union and its US allies slapped crushing sanctions on Moscow in early 2022 after the long-smoldering Donbass crisis escalated into a full-blown NATO-Russia proxy war in Ukraine. The strategy backfired, thrusting the EU into an unprecedented energy crisis and threatening the bloc with large-scale deindustrialization.

EU countries failed again to agree on an 11th package of sanctions against Russia in talks Wednesday, with negotiations expected to continue next week, four diplomats with direct knowledge of the situation have told European media.

The proposed restrictions, said to be focused on efforts by Russia and its partners to circumvent earlier enacted sanctions, are reportedly being held up by Hungarian and Greek indignation amid efforts to label their national companies operating in Russia as “war sponsors.” France and Germany have also reportedly asked for measures to soften the proposed sanctions amid fears of the impact they could have on ties with affected countries besides Russia.

The United States has accused five countries – Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Turkiye and the United Arab Emirates, of being particular egregious violators of the West’s sanctions policy against Moscow.

On Wednesday, State Department sanctions coordinator Jim O’Brien complained that European companies have sold vast quantities of goods to third parties which then resold them to Russia, enabling Moscow to “reimport certain key categories of electronics at about pre-war levels.”

Sanctions Blunted

The EU’s anti-circumvention restrictions resemble the ‘secondary sanctions’ regularly used by the United States, which threatens to target third countries doing business with America’s adversaries. Washington used such sanctions for decades against countries like Iran, Cuba and North Korea. However, the restrictions faltered last year after being applied against Russia, not only failing to achieve their goal of collapsing the Russian economy, but prompting most of the world outside the US and Europe to reject efforts to isolate Russia.

The negotiations on the EU’s 11th package of sanctions comes after the approval of the 10th package in February, with those restrictions including entry bans, export bans, and asset freezes.

The European Union has now slapped over 1,500 sanctions on Russia since February 2022. Russia is by far the most heavily-sanctioned nation on Earth, with its 13,260+ total restrictions more numerous than all Western sanctions on Iran, Syria, North Korea, Belarus, Venezuela and Myanmar combined.

But the sanctions have largely failed to achieve their objective, with Russia’s GDP resuming growth in 2023 after a 2.5 percent contraction in 2022, and Moscow working intensively to expand trade ties with China, India, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America after being frozen out of Western markets.

Meanwhile, European nations have faced recession and the threat of deindustrialization amid rising energy and food prices after a halt in imports of Russian oil, gas, coal and fertilizers left many industries uncompetitive against Asian and US counterparts.

Russia warned about precisely such an eventuality in the spring of 2022, when President Putin cautioned his EU counterparts that restrictions on Russian energy purchases at Washington’s behest would constitute a form of "economic suicide."

Epidemi penyalahgunaan narkoba AS membunuh 300 orang Amerika per hari

Di dalam dinasti Sackler dan perusahaannya, Purdue Pharma, yang diduga memicu epidemi opioid AS.

Purdue Pharma memperkenalkan pembunuh rasa sakit opioid OxyContin pada 1990-an dan mempromosikannya secara agresif sebagai non-adiktif.

Pengacara pemerintah Amerika Serikat berpendapat bahwa pemilik perusahaan, Sacklers, tahu bagaimana pengobatan mereka disalahgunakan secara luas, tetapi melipatgandakan produksi - dan keuntungan.

Baru-baru ini gugatan diselesaikan sebesar $6 miliar.

Barry Meier, penulis Pain Killer (segera menjadi seri Netflix), mulai menulis tentang epidemi opioid 20 tahun lalu ketika membunuh sekitar 20.000 orang setiap tahun. Dia memberi tahu pembawa acara Steve Clemons bagaimana keserakahan perusahaan dan keragu-raguan pemerintah telah menyebabkan angka itu melebihi 100.000 kematian tahun lalu saja.

USA melampaui rekor 100.000 kematian akibat overdosis pada tahun 2021

Lebih dari 80.000 orang meninggal karena penggunaan opioid, termasuk resep pil pereda nyeri dan fentanil, obat mematikan yang 100 kali lebih kuat dari morfin dan semakin banyak ditemukan dalam obat lain.

Kematian akibat metamfetamin dan kokain juga meningkat.

Sejak awal abad ke-21, epidemi overdosis yang dipimpin oleh resep pil pereda nyeri dan diikuti gelombang heroin, fentanil, dan sabu telah menewaskan lebih dari 1 juta orang, atau kira-kira populasi San Jose, menurut data sementara.

Dan tidak ada akhir yang jelas, menurut para ahli.

"2022 mungkin akan sama mengerikannya dengan 2021, sangat mungkin lebih buruk," kata Keith Humphreys, seorang peneliti kecanduan dan kebijakan narkoba di Stanford University.

Nora Volkow, direktur Institut Nasional Penyalahgunaan Narkoba, mengatakan negara itu keluar dari pandemi dengan "peningkatan yang signifikan" dalam depresi, kecemasan, kesepian, dan pemikiran untuk bunuh diri, "dan itu tidak akan hilang."

Para pejabat memperingatkan bahwa mereka menanggapi semakin banyak overdosis karena pandemi terus berlanjut. Kantor Jaksa Agung Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro telah menyita 1,8 juta dosis fentanil dalam tiga bulan pertama tahun 2022, lebih banyak dari opioid sintetik yang manjur dibandingkan sepanjang tahun 2021.

Kematian akibat overdosis secara nasional melonjak ke tingkat yang sebelumnya tidak terlihat pada paruh pertama pandemi, naik 30 persen dari 2019 hingga 2020. Pandemi membebani keuangan, kesehatan mental, perumahan, dan lainnya bagi banyak orang, sambil membayangi krisis narkoba. Ada kekhawatiran bahwa lonjakan kasus virus korona yang diprediksi pada musim gugur ini dapat kembali membatasi akses ke perawatan dan pengobatan.

Hari Kesadaran Fentanyl Nasional bertujuan untuk memperkuat upaya nasional untuk meningkatkan kesadaran dan mengurangi permintaan fentanyl, yang merupakan opioid sintetik yang sangat adiktif yang terus mendorong epidemi overdosis.

Fentanyl terlibat dalam lebih banyak kematian orang Amerika di bawah 50 tahun daripada penyebab kematian apa pun, termasuk penyakit jantung, kanker, pembunuhan, bunuh diri, dan kecelakaan lainnya. Fentanil ilegal mendorong peningkatan baru-baru ini dalam kematian akibat overdosis obat di AS.

“Fentanyl adalah satu-satunya ancaman narkoba paling mematikan yang pernah dihadapi bangsa kita,” kata Administrator Anne Milgram. “Fentanil ada di mana-mana. Dari daerah metropolitan besar hingga pedesaan Amerika, tidak ada komunitas yang aman dari racun ini. "

Menurut CDC, 107.375 orang di Amerika Serikat meninggal karena overdosis obat dan keracunan obat dalam periode 12 bulan yang berakhir pada Januari 2022. Yang mengejutkan, 67 persen dari kematian tersebut melibatkan opioid sintetik seperti fentanil.

Beberapa dari kematian ini dikaitkan dengan fentanil yang dicampur dengan obat-obatan terlarang lainnya seperti kokain, metamfetamin, dan heroin, dengan banyak pengguna yang tidak menyadari bahwa mereka benar-benar menggunakan fentanil. Hanya dua miligram fentanil yang dianggap sebagai dosis yang berpotensi mematikan; itu sangat berbahaya bagi seseorang yang tidak memiliki toleransi terhadap opioid.

"Kita harus mengambil setiap kesempatan untuk menyebarkan berita untuk mencegah kematian overdosis terkait fentanil dan keracunan yang merenggut banyak nyawa orang Amerika setiap hari."

Putin discusses Ukraine conflict resolution with African leader

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
©Sergei CHIRIKOV / POOL / AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin has agreed to host a delegation of African heads of state who plan to visit Moscow to present their peace initiative to end the Ukraine conflict, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

The agreement was reached in a phone call with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, during which both leaders discussed issues pertaining to the "well-known African initiative" and "key aspects of the further development of bilateral strategic partnership."

Six African leaders seeking to mediate a resolution to the fighting decided on Monday to travel to both Moscow and Kiev in mid-June.

Ramaphosa's office said on Tuesday, after a previous meeting with his counterparts, that the foreign ministers of the Comoros Islands, Egypt, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia, and South Africa have been tasked to "finalize the elements of a roadmap towards peace" ahead of the mission.

The Kremlin said Putin and the South African leader also discussed preparations for the second Russia-Africa summit, which will take place in late July in St. Petersburg and will bring together Russian and African officials to deliberate and strengthen bilateral relations. The summit's goal is to boost Russia-Africa cooperation in a variety of areas, including trade, investment, and technology transfer.

The upcoming BRICS summit scheduled to take place in Johannesburg in August was also highlighted, with both leaders expressing "commitment to continuing close coordination between Russia and South Africa on international platforms."

Putin Controlling Situation in Kherson Region After Destruction of Kakhovka HPP - Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin is keeping the situation in the Kherson Region under control after the sabotage at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant (HPP), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.

©Photo : Administration of the New Kakhovka city

"He [Putin] keeps the situation in the Kherson Region under control after the sabotage and the explosion of the dam. Yesterday, as you know, he instructed the Ministry of Emergency Situations to strengthen its presence there and provide assistance to people and also actively engage in work to eliminate the consequences of this disaster," Peskov told reporters.

Putin has not current plans of holding a meeting in the Kherson Region after the sabotage, Peskov added.

Emergency teams are selflessly working in the region to deal with the aftermath of the destruction of Kakhovka HPP, even under the conditions of ongoing shelling, the spokesman underscored.

Kremlin spokesman also commented the recent explosion at the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, naming it another issue that complicates the extension of the grain deal.

On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that a Ukrainian sabotage group had blown up the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline in the Kharkov region, adding that there are casualties among the civilian population.

"We do not know what kind of destruction there is, we do not know what the Ukrainian side is going to do with this line. But you know that this topic was mentioned as an integral part of the part of the deal that concerned us. Therefore, let's just say, this is another aspect that complicates the situation in terms of prolonging the deal," Peskov told reporters.

Reports of Swedish Arms in Kiev's Failed Raid on Russia Raise Doubt Over Further Aid

©Press service of the Russian Ministry of Defense / Go to the mediabank

According to pundits, the use of Western weapons in the recent Ukrainian sabotage attacks on Russia pose questions over Kiev's control of the massive troves of arms provided, as well as the suitability of further donations.

A video circulating on social media shows pro-Ukrainian saboteurs in possession of Swedish anti-tank weapons, reportedly during their bungled attempt to infiltrate Russia's Belgorod Region.

A self-proclaimed group of pro-Ukrainian Polish militants that calls itself the Polish Volunteer Corps recently shared a video reportedly filmed in Russia during the one of the botched raids, where the terrorists are pictured handling Swedish Pansarskott 86 anti-tank rounds. The clip's authenticity was verified by Sweden's national broadcaster, which geolocated the footage as filmed in Russia. Earlier, Stockholm sent 15,000 of these projectiles to Kiev.

The saboteurs were reported to have used weapons originally provided to Kiev by the US, Poland, the Czech Republic and Belgium, which obviously debunks the narrative of arming Ukraine for "self-defense purposes only."

While Swedish Defense Minister Pal Jonson was evasive in his comments, noting that the authorities are familiar with the reports of Swedish anti-tank rounds used in Russia's Belgorod Region, pundits pointed out numerous problems with the recent revelation.

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Liden from the Swedish Defense University argued that the clip would provide Moscow with an opportunity to "demonstrate that the West is waging a war against Russia."

His colleague Magnus Christiansson, a senior lecturer at the Swedish Defense University, called the footage "remarkable" and said it sparked a debate about whether Ukraine can control or has the ability to keep track of Western-supplied military equipment.

"I don't think Russia is that surprised that these weapons are being used because they were donated by the West to Ukraine, but it does create a discussion about how Ukraine uses the weapons they received and reasonably raises questions about whether it is wise to donate further arms given how these resources are used," Magnus Christiansson told Swedish media.

The West has already crossed a red line for Russia with its increasingly brazen arms deliveries to Ukraine, whose military campaign is heavily reliant on deliveries of Western materiel, ranging from trucks and tanks, to drones and missiles. Based on the official explanation, the arms come with a clause to be used exclusively on Ukraine's territory.

On May 22, a group of Ukrainian saboteurs raided the Grayvoronsky district of the bordering Belgorod Region, killing one and wounding several others, whereupon Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov announced an anti-terrorist operation. The following day, the incursion was quashed, with Russia neutralizing 70 terrorists and releasing footage showing several scorched armored vehicles belonging to the attackers, as well as US-made Humvees capsized in craters.

Not one Western nation condemned the attack or acknowledged its role in arming the saboteurs and terrorists. Only Belgium's Foreign and Defense Industries pledged to turn to Kiev "at the first opportunity" for an explanation due to the use of Belgian-made weapons in the attack.