The Secretary of Defense of the United States, Lloyd Austin, announced this April 26 that the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and the Czech Republic will urgently send artillery, Patriot batteries and HIMARS to Ukraine, in order to support the country in its war against Russia. Spain, for its part, also confirmed that it will send long-range Patriot anti-aircraft missiles, ammunition and medical supplies. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has insisted on the need for Patriot batteries, essential to counter the escalation of the Russian air offensive.
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The United States will purchase $6 billion worth of new weapons for Ukraine, including vehicles, Patriot air defense system and NASAMS, precision munitions and counter-drone systems, the Joe Biden Administration announced on Friday, April 26.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at the opening of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting that the US, UK, Germany and the Czech Republic will urgently send artillery, Patriot batteries and HIMARS.
The shipment detail comes after several announcements of international aid, including $1 billion in military hardware that Washington will release immediately as part of a newly approved $61 billion package.
“If Ukraine falls under the boot of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin, Europe will fall under his shadow. That is why we are determined to deter Russia from any new aggression, including against NATO allies,” the Secretary of Defense stressed.
Austin praised the Czech Republic's decision to send thousands of artillery pieces; the United Kingdom's decision to approve a $620 million military aid package and Germany's donation of another Patriot missile system.
The head of the Pentagon confirmed that the United States will urgently send to Ukraine ammunition for HIMARS batteries, which allow attacking Russian positions far from the front, advanced 155-millimeter artillery ammunition and air defense systems on armored vehicles.
Austin reiterated that right now the most pressing need for Ukraine is to improve its anti-aircraft defenses to prevent Russia from taking air hegemony in key parts of Ukrainian territory.
For its part, Spain, amid pressure from NATO, said at the same meeting that it will send long-range Patriot anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine.
The Spanish Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, indicated that the aid also includes light and heavy machine guns, protected logistics vehicles on wheels, armored infantry vehicles, anti-tank weapons and field artillery howitzers.
In a recorded message, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine needs “at least seven Patriot batteries” and missiles “urgently” and more artillery to confront Russia.
“We must remember that predatory regimes like the Russian one are rapidly increasing their appetite for aggression. When they are successful in one part of the world, they create problems in other places and the aggression will spread and will not stop,” Zelensky said.
“All of this is a testament to our commitment to Ukraine's success on the battlefield. and to do it through this contact group,” Austin said before the closed-door meetings of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group, made up of 50 kyiv-allied countries, began.
Read also“We can take back our land,” says Zelensky as he urges his allies for long-range weapons
The Ukrainian president has emphasized the need for Patriot batteries, considered the most effective air defense system, capable of launching surface-to-air interceptor missilesmainly to shoot down projectiles quickly.
With EFE and Reuters
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