Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Friday, February 25, during a briefing, announced Washington’s intention to continue military assistance to Ukraine. The broadcast was on Twitter US defense department.
“We are going to provide Ukraine with additional security assistance. How this will be done is currently being worked out,” he said.
At the same time, the representative of the US Department of Defense refused to specify what exactly the United States intends to supply to Kiev.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky discussed increased sanctions, specific defense support and an anti-war coalition with US President Joe Biden.
On Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the US administration is consulting with the US Congress on expanding military and other assistance to Ukraine. According to her, the United States considers Zelensky an important partner and supports him, but does not comment on security issues.
On the same day, Biden announced that he did not intend to send a military contingent to Ukraine. The American leader explained that the United States is deploying additional troops to Germany in order to ensure the security of NATO countries.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass. After that, the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of hitting the country’s military infrastructure and introduced martial law throughout Ukraine. He also said that Kyiv is breaking off diplomatic relations with Moscow and withdrawing its diplomats from the embassy.
The Russian Defense Ministry stressed that the army did not carry out air missile or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine. The civilian population of the country is not in danger. High-precision weapons destroy military infrastructure. As of February 25, 211 Ukrainian military installations, including American Javelin anti-tank missile systems and British NLAW, were disabled by high-precision weapons.
On February 21, Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the LPR and DPR. Also, the Russian leader and the heads of both republics Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance. The documents were ratified the next day by both the republics themselves and the Russian State Duma.
The situation in Donbass escalated on February 17. In the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, heavy shelling by Ukrainian security forces was reported, including from heavy weapons. The republics announced a general mobilization and evacuation of civilians to the territory of Russia.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been conducting a military operation against the inhabitants of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kyiv blames Moscow for the current situation.
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