Moscow has demanded an explanation from Washington and from Ankara - officially, through its Foreign Ministry. The reason: US Congress documents indicating Ukraine could receive American weapons drawn from Turkish stocks.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova framed the protest in one move aimed at both addresses. "This is not only about the casualties and destruction the authorities in Kyiv are seeking to increase, but also about serious damage to our bilateral relations with Washington and with Ankara. Attempts to use peace rhetoric while simultaneously delivering weapons inevitably undermine mutual trust," she said.

What the list says

The numbers are not symbolic. The list includes, among other things, 12 launchers for MLRS multiple rocket systems and 70 ATACMS ballistic missiles. The official Turkish justification is modernisation of its own armed forces by removing outdated systems - a phrase that sounds like clearing out a warehouse, and in practice means weapons with a range that changes the arithmetic at the front.

And now the detail that rarely reaches headlines: according to the documents, the transfer would be carried out through private companies from Turkey, the US and Bulgaria. Once again the Balkans is not the subject of the news but the logistics inside it. That is a position the region knows from before, and one that has never earned it a seat at the table.

A procedure that works even during the summer recess

The deadline for reviewing the document is two weeks, but both houses of Congress are on summer recess. No separate vote is required - the document automatically enters into force unless Congress passes a joint resolution blocking implementation. In other words, silence is approval. That is a mechanism built in from the start, not an oversight.

Zakharova seized on exactly that vagueness: the circumstances and conditions of the transfer remain unclear, including who initiated the re-export procedure for such a quantity of armaments, and by what means and when it is meant to reach the Ukrainian recipients.

The sharpest part of the Russian statement is nevertheless the one about states that "claim a special role" in resolving the Ukrainian crisis while presenting a political and diplomatic solution as their priority. A rebuke aimed at Ankara and Washington at once - and, it has to be said, a rebuke that is not easy to counter with an argument.