President Biden’s announcement this week of an additional $ 800 million in military aid included, for the first time, advanced munitions requested by Ukraine.
While the package was still lagging behind Ukraine’s specific demands, it also represented a real change.
Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the recent military aid package was a “significant change” and a sign that the US government and its allies were “steadily raising fire” against Russia.
“Are there still red lines?” “Yes,” he added, but said the United States had reached those lines without crossing them.
The announcement of the new package followed public pressure from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky spoke with Biden on Wednesday for almost an hour before the announcement of the arms package. He had previously posted on Twitter requests for specific military equipment, including fighter jets, tanks and multiple missile launchers.
The campaign, which Zelensky described as “#ArmUkraine,” was an attempt to persuade the United States and its Western allies to speed up deliveries and meet specific requirements for critical weapons systems as Russian forces retreat, regroup, and refuel. renewal.
“The weapons coming to Ukraine are too late, we desperately need them. That is why, President [Zelensky] “He made this campaign public,” Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker, told The Hill.
External analysts and people familiar with the government’s rationale say a combination of logistical concerns and concerns has prevented the United States from fulfilling Zelensky’s wish list.
The package, for example, does not include warplanes that Zelensky described in his appeal as “must” save “millions of Ukrainians as well as millions of Europeans.”
It will also take about four weeks for the United States to deliver all of the $ 800 million in military aid included in the $ 800 million package, a senior defense official told reporters Thursday.
John Herbst, a former ambassador to Ukraine and a senior associate of the Atlantic Council, welcomed Biden’s military package, but said Ukrainians needed air power, especially Soviet-era MiG fighter jets and Sukhoi bombers.
“They still say no to MiGs and Sukhoi bombers, these MiGs and Sukhoi bombers would be very convenient to deal with Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers in the open,” Herbst said.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday that the government still has “concerns” about the delivery of MiGs from Poland to Ukraine, citing previous Pentagon estimates that such a move could cause Putin to escalate tensions. with NATO.
“This assessment has not changed,” Psaki said.
An outside analyst with knowledge of the government’s way of thinking pointed to Foreign Minister Antony Blinken about the prospect of sending more advanced weapons to Ukraine.
The analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, indicated Blinken’s support for the MiG port. Blinken said on March 6 that the US had given the “green light” to Poland. The oath was returned by the White House the next day.
“Politics is governed by the National Security Council and we know that Blinken’s instincts are very different and we saw it in the case of the MiG,” he said.
U.S. officials have publicly suggested that changes in the war change the nature of U.S. support.
“The nature of the conflict is changing; and therefore it makes sense that the exact forms of support will adapt to this changing reality,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement Wednesday.
Russia is believed to be reorganizing its forces for a more concentrated offensive in the east and south of the country.
Price, speaking at the State Department on Wednesday, said the $ 800 million arms shipment to Ukraine was made following an immediate appeal by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba to Blinken, asking for “guns, weapons and ammunition.”
“He met with Secretary Blinken and Secretary Blinken had three answers: yes, yes and yes. “And you saw today the fruits of some of those discussions,” Price said.
William Taylor, director of the Russia-Europe program at the US Institute of Peace, said growing evidence of atrocities against civilians and Biden’s accusation of Russian genocide had shifted the administration to more aggressive aid.
“I do not feel this hesitation anymore,” Taylor said.
“I’m talking to people at the Pentagon who are coming out fully trying to help” escalating arms shipments, including from the US but also from NATO allies such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, who have provided Ukraine with T-72 tanks respectively. battle and S300 missile defense system requested by Zelensky.
“The bureaucracy is doing this, I think, honestly, and there are things that need to be in the hands of Ukraine, like tomorrow, in order to disrupt and defend itself against this big offensive that the Russians are obviously planning and could start any day. “, he said.
The effort is also receiving support from key allies such as Great Britain, which has been particularly aggressive.
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“There is a window of opportunity,” said James Cleverley, Britain’s foreign secretary for Europe and North America, on the need to increase military aid to Ukraine.
“We are giving the Ukrainians the systems they need to properly defend their homeland, and we are trying to do that while the Russians are doing this repositioning,” he said in an interview in Washington this week.
Morgan Chalfant contributed to this story.
title: “Hawks Make Inroads In Russian Debate As Us Arms Ukraine " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-22” author: “Andrew Vasquez”
President Biden’s announcement this week of an additional $ 800 million in military aid included, for the first time, advanced munitions requested by Ukraine.
While the package was still lagging behind Ukraine’s specific demands, it also represented a real change.
Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the recent military aid package was a “significant change” and a sign that the US government and its allies were “steadily raising fire” against Russia.
“Are there still red lines?” “Yes,” he added, but said the United States had reached those lines without crossing them.
The announcement of the new package followed public pressure from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky spoke with Biden on Wednesday for almost an hour before the announcement of the arms package. He had previously posted on Twitter requests for specific military equipment, including fighter jets, tanks and multiple missile launchers.
The campaign, which Zelensky described as “#ArmUkraine,” was an attempt to persuade the United States and its Western allies to speed up deliveries and meet specific requirements for critical weapons systems as Russian forces retreat, regroup, and refuel. renewal.
“The weapons coming to Ukraine are too late, we desperately need them. That is why, President [Zelensky] “He made this campaign public,” Oleksiy Goncharenko, a Ukrainian lawmaker, told The Hill.
External analysts and people familiar with the government’s rationale say a combination of logistical concerns and concerns has prevented the United States from fulfilling Zelensky’s wish list.
The package, for example, does not include warplanes that Zelensky described in his appeal as “must” save “millions of Ukrainians as well as millions of Europeans.”
It will also take about four weeks for the United States to deliver all of the $ 800 million in military aid included in the $ 800 million package, a senior defense official told reporters Thursday.
John Herbst, a former ambassador to Ukraine and a senior associate of the Atlantic Council, welcomed Biden’s military package, but said Ukrainians needed air power, especially Soviet-era MiG fighter jets and Sukhoi bombers.
“They still say no to MiGs and Sukhoi bombers, these MiGs and Sukhoi bombers would be very convenient to deal with Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers in the open,” Herbst said.
White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Wednesday that the government still has “concerns” about the delivery of MiGs from Poland to Ukraine, citing previous Pentagon estimates that such a move could cause Putin to escalate tensions. with NATO.
“This assessment has not changed,” Psaki said.
An outside analyst with knowledge of the government’s way of thinking pointed to Foreign Minister Antony Blinken about the prospect of sending more advanced weapons to Ukraine.
The analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, indicated Blinken’s support for the MiG port. Blinken said on March 6 that the US had given the “green light” to Poland. The oath was returned by the White House the next day.
“Politics is governed by the National Security Council and we know that Blinken’s instincts are very different and we saw it in the case of the MiG,” he said.
U.S. officials have publicly suggested that changes in the war change the nature of U.S. support.
“The nature of the conflict is changing; and therefore it makes sense that the exact forms of support will adapt to this changing reality,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement Wednesday.
Russia is believed to be reorganizing its forces for a more concentrated offensive in the east and south of the country.
Price, speaking at the State Department on Wednesday, said the $ 800 million arms shipment to Ukraine was made following an immediate appeal by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba to Blinken, asking for “guns, weapons and ammunition.”
“He met with Secretary Blinken and Secretary Blinken had three answers: yes, yes and yes. “And you saw today the fruits of some of those discussions,” Price said.
William Taylor, director of the Russia-Europe program at the US Institute of Peace, said growing evidence of atrocities against civilians and Biden’s accusation of Russian genocide had shifted the administration to more aggressive aid.
“I do not feel this hesitation anymore,” Taylor said.
“I’m talking to people at the Pentagon who are coming out fully trying to help” escalating arms shipments, including from the US but also from NATO allies such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, who have provided Ukraine with T-72 tanks respectively. battle and S300 missile defense system requested by Zelensky.
“The bureaucracy is doing this, I think, honestly, and there are things that need to be in the hands of Ukraine, like tomorrow, in order to disrupt and defend itself against this big offensive that the Russians are obviously planning and could start any day. “, he said.
The effort is also receiving support from key allies such as Great Britain, which has been particularly aggressive.
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“There is a window of opportunity,” said James Cleverley, Britain’s foreign secretary for Europe and North America, on the need to increase military aid to Ukraine.
“We are giving the Ukrainians the systems they need to properly defend their homeland, and we are trying to do that while the Russians are doing this repositioning,” he said in an interview in Washington this week.
Morgan Chalfant contributed to this story.
