Washington and Kyiv are holding low-level consultations on the issue of providing the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) with F-16 multirole fighters, Patriot air defense systems and MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones. On Friday, September 16, the newspaper reports Politico.
It is noted that discussions of this topic have moved from the public space to a more “calm” format. This may be due to the call by the US authorities to pay more attention to the urgent needs of the army and urgent tasks on the battlefield, instead of chasing expensive weapons.
In addition, the indecision of the United States in this situation is due to concern about the possible reaction of Moscow. The transfer of more powerful weapons can be perceived as a provocation and direct intervention in the conflict. Another argument of the American side is the difficulty of maintaining combat systems for Ukrainian specialists who do not have such experience.
Meanwhile, on September 16, US Department of Defense spokesman General Pat Ryder said that two NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs) would be delivered to Ukraine in the next two months. According to him, Washington is constantly engaged in a dialogue with Kyiv regarding the supply of weapons.
On September 14, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov expressed the opinion that the American side had done everything to turn Ukraine “into a training ground for the disposal of obsolete and testing new NATO weapons” in an attempt to counter Russian weapons.
Western countries are increasing the shipment of weapons and military equipment to Kyiv against the background of the Russian special operation to protect the Donbass. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that such actions are prolonging the conflict.
Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Ryabkov on September 2 called the growing involvement of the United States in military support of Ukraine a dangerous trend.
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