The United States of America announced another package of military assistance to Ukraine. Its amount is 2.2 billion dollars. The list of military equipment that Washington will supply to Kiev includes Javelin anti-tank missiles, artillery ammunition, as well as conventional missiles and long-range missiles for HIMARS systems previously supplied by the United States.
List of weapons
Part of the $1.725 billion shipment will be funded by a fund known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows the Biden administration to order new weapons from manufacturers rather than ordering them. remove existing Pentagon stockpiles.
The list of armaments also includes: additional 155mm artillery shells, 120mm mortar ammunition, 190 heavy machine guns with thermal imaging sights and appropriate ammunition to counter unmanned aircraft systems; 181 Mine and Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAP); 250 Javelin anti-tank systems; 2000 anti-tank missiles; Claymore anti-personnel ammunition; explosive ammunition; cold weather gear, helmets and other field gear.
no fighters
The new aid program did not include Western warplanes. Ukraine requests F-15 and F-16 fighter jets. Washington and Berlin have made it clear that sending them to Kiev could lead to crossing so-called red lines, which could lead to an escalation from Moscow. In turn, the White House said it would not interfere if the F-15 and F-16 fighters wanted to transfer other allies from Ukraine.
“We have never tried to force another country to give or not to give something, and these are, again, sovereign decisions that are made by individual states. So if a country decides that it wants to provide fighter jets, that’s definitely his decision and we will respect it. We want Ukraine to get as much support as possible,” said John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator for the United States National Security Council. United, in an interview with media.
Recall that former Congressman Adam Kinzinger proposed an amendment to allocate $100 million to the Ukrainian pilot training program to fly the F-15 and F-16. It was even included in the draft defense budget for 2023. True, it did not enter the final version.
Britain has previously called a possible transfer of fighter jets inappropriate. This was announced by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s press secretary on Tuesday. The UK explains that the RAF’s Typhoon and F-35 fighter jets are extremely complex and that Ukrainian pilots will take a long time to learn to fly.
John Kirby added that the United States was negotiating almost daily with its Ukrainian partners over its weapons needs. “We will do our best to ensure they can succeed on the battlefield not only today, but also in the months to come,” he concluded.
