Senator Jim Risch, who represents the Republican Party on the Foreign Relations Committee, said on March 29 that he supports an escalation of tensions with Russia in order to increase support for Ukraine, which includes the supply of American fighter jets.
“I’m not a big fan of the argument that we can’t escalate. If you do not escalate tensions, you will lose,” he said during a discussion on the prospects for supporting Ukraine and organized at the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C.
As the senator noted, he supports the transfer of almost any weapons to Ukraine, including fourth-generation F-16 fighter jets. However, according to him, it is impossible to supply Kyiv with nuclear weapons.
Rish also stressed that he was not concerned about the possibility of Russia using nuclear weapons in response to US confrontational actions.
Earlier, on March 28, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that Washington did not plan to supply Kyiv with MQ-9 multi-purpose unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Since these drones will not cope with the Russian air defense system (air defense).
On the same day, Austin said that the US leadership believes that Ukraine will need fourth-generation fighters only in the future, and now it needs air defense systems.
Retired Colonel Viktor Litovkin on March 27, in an interview with Izvestia, said that many Western countries have enough fighters to supply Ukraine, but the country itself lacks the infrastructure necessary for aircraft, since most airfields are disabled, which makes the very fact of their transfer meaningless.
Prior to that, on March 17, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urged American allies not to get hung up on the idea of transferring any specific types of weapons to Kyiv. He stated that the West independently decides what weapons and equipment it is ready to transfer to Kyiv.
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Kyiv against the backdrop of a special operation of the Russian Federation to protect Donbass, the decision on which was made against the backdrop of aggravation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
#senator #supported #escalation #Russian #Federation #transfer #weapons #Ukraine