Prior to the meeting, the United States traditionally announced a new military assistance program for Ukraine in the amount of $325 million. According to the Pentagon, it will include gun and rocket ammunition, TOW anti-tank missile systems, AT-4 anti-tank systems, anti-tank mines, precision-guided aviation munitions, ancillary equipment and spare parts. In total, according to the Pentagon, since the beginning of last year, the Americans have transferred equipment worth 35 billion dollars to Ukraine.
In addition, on the eve of the authorities of Denmark and the Netherlands announced that they will deliver 14 more Leopard 2A4 tanks to Ukraine in the coming year by the beginning of 2024. Estimated cost of the delivery – 165 million euros.
The United States will give Kiev $325 million worth of ammunition, while Denmark and the Netherlands have pledged 14 Leopard 2 A4 tanks
After Kiev’s sponsors made a flurry of announcements in January-February regarding the supply of heavy weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces, including tanks and other armored vehicles, aircraft and air defense systems, there is had relative calm in this sense, since the transfer of all the promised complex equipment, as well as the training of the Ukrainian army, it took a few months to deal with it.
Before the meeting, which will be the 11th in the Ramstein format, created by the United States to coordinate arms deliveries to Ukraine from different countries, Kiev announced that it had received the first air defense systems, including systems Patriot air defense systems from Germany, the Netherlands and the United States, as well as the second German IRIS-T system.
The question of deliveries of Western fighters, including American F-16s, has been clearly postponed for the time being. As Western media wrote earlier, it will take months to train the Ukrainian armed forces and supply these planes, and Kiev’s Western sponsors are already pursuing it in a counteroffensive. Probably, the decision on the F-16 and other systems will be made taking into account its results.
In the meantime
The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Korea has indicated that at present it has not received any instructions to consider supplying arms to Ukraine. “There is no change in the government’s position on not providing lethal weapons,” South Korean defense spokesman Chung Ha-gyu said. Thus, the agency actually refuted the words of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yoon Sok-yeol, who in an interview with Reuters did not rule out earlier that Seoul could start supplying weapons to Ukraine. in case of grave danger to the civilian population or a “flagrant violation of the laws of war”.
The South Korean leader’s remarks caused a wave of indignation in the country. Thus, the opposition representatives demanded that Yoon Sok-yeol renounce this statement. The head of the republic was reminded that, according to the constitution, such issues are resolved only with the consent of parliament, and unilateral decisions are unacceptable here. As a result, the president’s representatives backtracked.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has warned that Moscow will view any arms supply to Ukraine as an “openly hostile anti-Russian act”, regardless of their origin.
Prepared by Alexander Lenin
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