This Wednesday, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, visited his American counterpart Joe Biden. After the meeting, the Ukrainian received agreements from Washington for his country that would improve its defense capacity and weapons power.
Specifically, the US government will send the sophisticated Patriot anti-missile system.
Russia, for its part, sees this new rapprochement as a threat which they have already assured will aggravate the conflict.
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Zelenski thanked in Washington American support and received promises of more aid, including new missile defense systems, on his first trip abroad since the Russian invasion in February.
Dressed in brown combat uniform, Zelensky was taken to the White House where Biden and his wife Jill greeted him and entered together as US guards raised his and Ukrainian national flags.
We will continue to strengthen Ukraine’s ability to defend itself, in particular air defense
“We are going to continue to strengthen Ukraine’s ability to defend itself, particularly air defense,” Biden told Zelensky as they sat by the fireplace in the Oval Office.
Zelensky – whose media skills and resilient attitude towards Russia helped him rally support for the Ukrainian cause – landed on a US military plane at Andrews Air Force Base after a secretly arranged trip for security reasons.
After meeting with Biden, the Ukrainian president will address Congress, which is finalizing a new $45 billion aid package for kyiv by 2023.
What is the Patriot system for?
In anticipation of Zelensky’s arrival, the United States announced another $1.85 billion of previously budgeted funds for Ukraine, including for the first time the advanced Patriot air defense system, capable of shooting down cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles.
Ukraine fears a growing onslaught of Russian missiles and has faced a series of drone strikes, many of them purchased by Moscow from Iran. Russian forces shell power plants and other civilian infrastructure just as the country hits winter.
“We will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, so that kyiv can continue to defend itself and be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table when the time comes,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in the statement announcing aid
‘Patriot’, the air defense system that Russia dislikes
The meeting between Zelensky and Biden gave hopeful fruits for Ukraine, among them, the most prominent being the anti-missile defense system that the United States will donate to them, due to a strong and constant threat of air attacks by Russia on the cities. Ukrainian strikes that have left dozens of civilians dead, as well as affecting the city’s infrastructure and leaving a large part of the country without electricity.
PATRIOT MISSILE
I really like the simple and ingenious solutions of Western engineers, who, for example, made containers for Patriot missiles rectangular, and for HIMARS the possibility of loading without additional loading machines…
American infantryman pic.twitter.com/pfFnEkJOAn
— 🇺🇦 CA Tim Gravett 🇨🇦 🍁🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@TimGravett) December 21, 2022
The ‘Patriot missile system’ is the most advanced air defense system and weapon available in the US arsenal, army officials say it is the most significant support the government has given Ukraine in recent months.
Biden would also donate with this system two billion packages of ammunition for the ‘Patriot’, also a battery with the power to run eight rocket launchers in which each can fire between four and 16 missiles depending on the type of ammunition used.
It’s official.
The White House has confirmed that the US will send a Patriot missile defense battery to Ukraine after training Ukrainian forces on how to operate it in a third country.
Germany stated earlier that they won’t send theirs unilaterally.
What about now? pic.twitter.com/0J5vKaGdLl
— Visegrad 24 (@visegrad24) December 21, 2022
Also, the American armed forces would have the commitment to teach the Ukrainians how to use weapons, this operation would be carried out in another country, which is speculated to be Germany, as revealed by the Washington Post.
Finally, the weapon is expected to arrive in Ukraine and be ready for use by spring, members of the US military explain that it is a complex system to use and that training “will take time.”
The request of the Ukrainians to end the war
With the country mired in prolonged blackouts and bracing for further large-scale attacks from Russia and Belarus, the prevailing feeling is that now is the time for Ukraine to receive as much support as possible.
The supply of more air defense systems, long-range ATACMS missiles and modern tanks, armored vehicles and high-precision artillery is on the agenda. Sergiy Grabskyi, a colonel and military expert, told EFE that the fighting in Ukraine is close to reaching its peak, with very intense hostilities along the front.
According to Grabskyi, the Ukrainian troops need more weapons and equipment but, despite this, they manage to succeed thanks to a more efficient use of the resources they already have.
For his part, military analyst Mykola Bielieskov, from the NGO “Come Home Alive,” predicts that sooner or later Western tanks will reach Ukraine, as they have no substitute in large-scale offensives, he wrote on his Twitter account. Twitter.
At the beginning of the invasion, Moscow and Washington had written off Ukraine for lost, but now Zelensky is traveling to the US “as the leader of a country that has buried the myth of Russian military effectiveness,” Bielieskov stresses.
In this way the war will last for years, it will destroy half the country and it will kill millions of people.
“The US is doing a lot and we are grateful. But they are giving us weapons very gradually. We will end up winning, but this way the war will last for years, destroy half the country and kill millions of people,” he says.
The cost of helping Ukraine is small compared to what the US would be forced to spend on defense if Russia takes over and threatens Europe from Ukrainian soil, he says.
“I hope Zelensky will remind those who criticize the effectiveness of supporting Ukraine that the US already saved a lot of money thanks to Ukraine giving up its nuclear arsenal in the 1990s,” Vasyl adds.
In addition, he underlines that all weapons received by Ukraine are used for combat as they are necessary for survival and that the chances of them being trafficked are minimal due to strict controls at European borders.
“It’s great that the US and other countries are helping us. If they can, I hope they will continue to do so and increase their support,” says Sergiy. “I trust our president a lot. I think he knows what he has to do and that he will do everything possible during his visit,” says Anastasia on his part.
Russia assures that weapons will lead to an “aggravation of the conflict”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskovstated that further US arms deliveries to kyiv will lead to a “escalation of the conflict and are not “a good omen for Ukraine“.
In a televised address to senior military commanders, Putin claimed that Moscow is not to blame for the invasion and agreed that Russia needs a bigger army. “The combat capability of our armed forces is constantly increasing,” Putin said.
“What is happening is, of course, a tragedy, our common tragedy. But it is not the result of our policy. It is the result of the policy of third countries,” he added.
“We have no limits for funding. The country and the government are giving everything the army asks for. Everything,” Putin said. On September 1, 2021, Zelenski had already been received at the White House by Biden, who promised him support in the face of the threat from neighboring Russia.
What Zelensky requires to negotiate
For his part, the president of Ukraine has assured that he will only negotiate with Russia if it abandons all the territories occupied since the beginning of the war, including the most disputed Crimea, which was annexed by Ukraine in 2014. In addition, he seeks reparations from of Russia, for millions of euros in damages, as well as calls for war trials for Putin and members of his military junta.
Requests that would only come true after an absolute military defeat by Ukraine, a situation that current conditions present very far away, so it would be understood that for now, Zelensky will not try to negotiate in a conflict that seems to be getting worse every time. for both sides, and the signs of peace do not appear until many more soldiers fall in the confrontation of the sides.
SANTIAGO PINZON GIRALDO*
INTERNATIONAL WRITING
*With information from EFE and AFP
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