To the package of one billion dollars will be added 225 for humanitarian aid
On the same day that one of Putin’s closest oligarchs suggested that in two years Ukraine will be off the map, the US doubled military aid to Ukraine. Another billion dollars in military aid and 225 in humanitarian aid will continue to fuel the Ukrainian resistance, which is losing ground in the Donbas region.
The formal announcement came after a 41-minute phone conversation between President Joe Biden and his counterpart Volodimir Zelensky. Ukraine wants more than stingers and javelins. The country needs sophisticated long-range missiles, but Washington weighs the risks of them falling into Russian hands once its forces retreat. The new package, which includes long-range guided launcher systems such as M777 howitzers, will come straight out of Pentagon stockpiles for the twelfth time in nearly a year. “We can’t lower the piston, the stakes are high,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said from Brussels.
The White House fears that with the duration of the war the interest of public opinion and, above all, the unity of the allies will be lost. Hence, it reinforces the links with these high-level visits, which aim to “coordinate” international efforts. Zelensky wants powerful missiles capable of sinking Russian ships, like the anti-naval BA.Ns made by Boeing or the RTX.Ns from Raytheon Technologies. Last April he asked Portugal for the Harpoons, which have the capacity to reach the target at 300 kilometers, because nobody wants to be the first country to send them.
With these missiles, Ukraine says it wants to defend its ports and guarantee grain shipments, but the West fears an escalation of the war if scenes like the sinking of the Moskva in the Black Sea are repeated. Frustration is spreading in kyiv over having to dribble out weapons from its allies, while Russia is wasting missiles and gaining ground, so Zelensky has asked Biden to demonstrate his commitment to more powerful missiles.
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