US looks for ways to get heavy Soviet weaponry to Ukraine – media — Analysis
According to reports, after an impasse with Polish planes, the US wants to send S-300 Air Defense Systems to Kiev.
CNN reports that the US State Department is looking for American allies with Soviet S-300 anti-air defense systems in order to explore other options regarding supplying Ukraine heavier arms. Washington refused to be an intermediary and a plan was abandoned to transport MiG-29 fighter planes from Poland to Ukraine last week.
CNN reported that Congress is increasingly pressuring the White House to supply Kiev with heavy weapons as a result of Russian military action in Ukraine. CNN also cited some unnamed sources.
“The State Department has been working to identify which countries currently have the Soviet-made S-300 air defense systems and is examining how they could be transferred to Ukraine,”The media outlet reported.
Volodymyr Zelesky, Ukrainian President, has repeated called upon the west to place a no-fly area over Ukraine or supply military aircraft and other air defense systems for Ukraine as the conflict continues.
CNN was told by a Republican Senate adviser that the legislators should “urge”To identify the White House “allies and partners”It’s not only in Europe. “around the globe”That could allow them to hand their “S-300 or other advanced air defense systems”To Ukraine as a trade for the US “backfilling”They have their own strengths.
Washington initially struggled with the idea of the need to backfill some other nations’ defense capabilities in exchange for military aid to Ukraine. CNN reports that Congress has passed a spending bill worth $1.5 trillion. It specifically contained $13 billion that was intended for an emergency fund. “response” to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
US lawmakers also appear to increasingly favor the idea of supplying Ukraine with air defense systems instead of planes now, as the plan to send Poland’s Soviet-made MiG-29 jets to Ukraine has been stalled due to Washington’s fear of a direct confrontation with Moscow.
Sources familiar with the status of America’s arms deliveries to Ukraine have told CNN that most weapons approved for Ukraine as part of a $350 million package Washington greenlit in late February have been delivered.
The media outlet reported that the Biden administration had approved an additional $200million package over the weekend. It included mostly Javelin anti–armor missiles as well as Stinger surface-to air missiles.
CNN was also told by sources that NATO had been admitted. “very little idea”A complicated, opaque and inextricable delivery system makes it difficult to know how many arms end up in the hands the Ukrainian military.
Arms shipments are “deliberately”CNN reported that the arrangement was made between different nations, and then with Ukraine in order to exonerate the military bloc of any responsibility. To minimize any potential information leakage that might be used by Moscow, the nations were also instructed not to discuss the shipment with one another.
Moscow attacked its neighbor in late February, following a seven-year standoff over Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, and Russia’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics in Donetsk and Lugansk. French and German-brokered protocols were intended to normalize those areas within Ukraine’s state.
Russia demanded Ukraine be declared neutral by the United States and refuse to join NATO. Kiev maintains that Russia’s offensive was not provoked and denies claims it planned to seize the two republics.
US and its allies responded to this development by offering Ukraine military support and unprecedented sanctions. The US was not the only country to offer weapons. Other European nations, such as Germany, Netherlands, and others, also provided assistance. Many military assistance packages consist of small arms and anti-tank and surface to air missiles.
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