Arms to Ukraine, it's all boiling up

The US is continuing to provide “massive” support for Ukraine and “massive pressure against Russia”, top American officials have said while detailing the latest financial package for Kyiv to purchase more weapons to fight the Russian invading forces. Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, and Lloyd Austin, US defence secretary, said after their visit to Kyiv that new funding of $713 million would be split between Ukraine and 15 alliance nations in central and eastern Europe and the Baltics to help them replace weapons from their stockpiles which had been donated to the Ukrainian military. The new arms funding brought the total value of America’s military aid to Ukraine to $3.7 billion since the invasion was launched on February 24. The focus of the western arms-supply operation is now changing. Kyiv is seeking more advanced western weapons to counter Russia’s firepower superiority, including air defence systems, to combat the Russians as they focus on the Donbas region in the eastern Ukraine. However, the US is also mindful that the Ukrainian armed forces need a constant flow of non-Nato-standard ammunition for its Soviet-made tanks and artillery. The latest arms package announced by Blinken and Austin includes $165 million for Soviet munitions from former Warsaw Pact countries which joined Nato after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Despite a second warning to Nato from Russia to stop arms supplies to Ukraine, Austin said in Kyiv that the US wanted to weaken Russia’s military to hamper Moscow from launching further offensives. “The US would like to ensure that Russia which has lost military capacity and troops does not have the ability to very quickly reproduce that capability”, he said. His remark indicated that the Biden administration has no intention of stopping the arms-supply convoys into Ukraine, ignoring the demand made yesterday (Mon) by Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to Washington. The ambassador said a diplomatic note had been sent to Washington, denouncing the arms supplies as “unacceptable”. Blinken said the US had put in place a strategy of “massive support for Ukraine, massive pressure against Russia” across Nato. He said it was having real results, with Russia failing in its war aims. The US has now shipped, or is in the process of shipping, 90 155mm M777 howitzers to Ukraine, via Poland, along with a total of 184,000 artillery shells. In addition the US has sent 90 tactical vehicles which are needed to tow the howitzers. The howitzers which can fire shells with a maximum range of more than 20 miles are playing a crucial role in targeting Russian attacking positions in the Donbas region. The arms supplies are being coordinated by the US European Command control centre-Ukraine, based in Stuttgart in Germany. Austin will be in southern Germany tomorrow (TUES) to meet with his counterparts from other alliance nations to discuss Ukraine’s current and future defence needs. They will meet at the huge Ramstein air base, headquarters of the US Air Force in Europe. They are likely to focus on the need to continue providing both Soviet-designed weapons and ammunition as well as advanced western systems to Ukraine. The Czech Republic has already sent dozens of T-72 tanks and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles. Poland is expected to follow suit as it has stockpiles of several hundred T-72s. Slovakia has provided Soviet S-300 air defence systems. The Nato countries in eastern Europe are still well stocked with Soviet munitions and tanks and they will be expected to raid their stockpiles to help the Ukrainian military continue to operate their Soviet-made 152mm artillery pieces. Since the invasion, the US has coordinated and delivered more than 50 million rounds of small arms ammunition to Ukraine, much of it Soviet-designed. There has been no move so far by the US to supply Patriot anti-air and anti-missile systems, nor the advanced Reaper armed surveillance drone. Both systems would make a significant difference in denying Russia air superiority but the Ukrainian military would require intensive training before they could be fielded. President Zelensky, the Ukrainian leader, has been urging the US to send heavy artillery. The US has M109 155mm self-propelled artillery which would meet Zelensky’s request. There are other options including the M142 multiple-launch rocket system which can fire tactical ballistic missiles. The Pentagon has not indicated any plan yet to send such weapons.