For the fourth time since the passage of a $95 billion foreign aid bill last April, the Pentagon is sending a weapons package to Ukraine.
In a statement, the Pentagon said the aid, valued at $275 million, “will provide Ukraine with additional capabilities to meet its most pressing battlefield needs, such as: precision rockets additional for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); artillery shells; air-launched munitions; and anti-tank weapons.
The installment will arrive at a precarious moment for kyiv. This month, Russia launched a new offensive around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, located near the eastern border.
CQ Brown, the top US military officer, said at a news conference this week that Moscow’s goal was to “establish a shallow buffer zone” on that border and force kyiv to decide which areas to defend. along the front of more than 600 miles.
This package, like two others since April, will make it possible to draw on American stocks and send them directly to Ukraine. That method is faster than the massive $6 billion in long-term aid announced last month, which Armament said could take years to arrive.
In another interview hosted by the Atlantic Council this week, Brown said the United States was providing Ukraine with a “steady flow of capabilities” and would focus on what “Ukraine tells us they need.” “.
More recently, it was not a hardware item but a way to use the kit already provided. Ukraine is campaigning to use US-donated weapons – such as the long-range ATACMS missile – to strike Russian territory.
The United States is reportedly considering changing its policy, which prohibits the firing of its weapons across the border. At the press conference, Brown expressed confidence that Ukraine did not use ATACMS to fire inside Russia.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking alongside him, predicted that U.S. policy would remain the same.
“They should focus on close combat,” Austin said of Ukraine.
