Security policy US authorizes Baltic countries to send US-made weapons to Ukraine: anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles on list of weapons to be sent

Abroad|Security policy

United States has allowed the Baltic countries to quickly deliver US-made weapons to Ukraine, according to AFP.

Lithuania said on Thursday that arms deliveries are expected to intimidate aggressive Russia.

A U.S. State Department official also confirmed to AFP that Washington intends to “expedite authorized shipments of U.S.-origin equipment from other countries. [Naton] from allies ’.

“European allies have what they need to get more security for Ukraine in the coming days and weeks,” the official said.

AFP says, citing a source aware of the credentials of NATO members, that the arms transfers approved by the United States are linked to requests from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to help Ukraine, which, like the Baltic states, is a former Soviet republic.

Lithuanian Minister of Defense Arvydas Anusauskas says the country is sending defense and other aid to Ukraine to prevent Russia from invading.

“History shows that concession in front of a provocateur will eventually end in a great war. That is not what we want. Every country that defends itself must have the opportunity to do so, ”says Anusauskas.

Latvian foreign minister Artis Pabriks announced on Wednesday that the country plans to send “both lethal and non-lethal military equipment” to Ukraine.

Estonia, on the other hand, has said it is sending dozens of Javelin anti-tank missiles and howitzers. However, in order to send howitzers, Estonia needs permits from Germany and Finland, from which it purchased the 122-millimeter field cannons in 2009.

Germany however, reported The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) said on Friday night that it would not allow Estonia to export German-made weapons to Ukraine. Germany also said it had not agreed to export its own weapons to Ukraine.

“Germany has a lot of hesitation to deliver [aseita] us, ”Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksi Reznikov said to the WSJ.

According to German authorities, the long-standing principle of non-export to conflict-sensitive areas is the basis for preventing arms exports.

“The basic principle of arms exports is always the same, whether the weapons came from Germany or a third country, and no permit has been issued at the moment,” the official said.

From here despite the policy, Germany exported Deutsche Wellen according to, for example, last year weapons to Egypt, where they may have ended up in Yemen, among others. The value of German arms exports also rose to a record high of around EUR 9 billion.

According to the authorities, Germany’s role in the outbreak of World War II and the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany in what is now Ukraine are also behind the decision.

Latvia and Lithuania intend to supply, inter alia, anti-aircraft missiles. Minister of Defense of Estonia Kalle Laanet according to Ukraine is at the forefront of what separates the rest of Europe from the military conflict with Russia.

Earlier this week, Britain announced The Guardian that the country has begun supplying Ukraine with light anti-tank weapons. In addition, the country is sending a “small number” of soldiers to train Ukrainians in the use of weapons.

The Czech Ministry of Defense also announced on Thursday that it wanted to send defense equipment to Ukraine.

Russia has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers, tanks and artillery to the border with Ukraine since the end of last year. This has tightened the gap between NATO and Russia.