Kyiv’s allies are focused on “long-term security” for Ukraine. Pentagon Chief Lloyd Austin announced this to reporters on September 19 following a meeting of the contact group on Ukraine in Germany; the event was broadcast on website Pentagon.
Austin also said that the most necessary type of weapons for Ukraine at the moment are air defense systems (air defense). At the same time, Western allies are in a hurry to provide Kyiv with the largest number of these systems, he clarified.
“And we are committed to doing everything possible to ensure that they are successful at this particular moment in time,” the Pentagon chief said.
Earlier that day, during a contact group meeting in Germany, the Pentagon chief said that the M1 Abrams tanks that the United States promised to Kyiv would soon reach Ukraine. However, he did not provide details or exact dates.
On September 8, former American reconnaissance Marine Scott Ritter said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) do not know how to use the Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM), and therefore in their hands it becomes “useless nonsense.”
At the end of August, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky complained that it was difficult to agree with Western countries on new supplies of Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM). He added that Patriot, NASAMS and IRIS-T are the best air defense systems that Ukraine has.
On August 8, former US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst Larry Johnson said that the Russian military had almost completely destroyed Ukraine’s air defense system over the past four months. According to him, Patriot systems turned out to be ineffective against the Russian army.
Western countries have increased military and financial support for Kyiv against the backdrop of the Russian special operation to protect Donbass, which has been ongoing since February 24, 2022. The corresponding decision was made in connection with the aggravation of the situation in the region due to attacks by the Ukrainian military.
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