US to send drones, heavy armored Humvees to Ukraine
Iran Press TV
Wed Mar 11, 2015 5:38PM
The United States is planning to send more military equipment to Ukraine, including drones and heavy armored Humvees, according to American government officials.
Unnamed White House officials told The Associated Press that Vice President Joe Biden informed Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko about the military assistance in a phone call on Wednesday.
The package includes some Raven unmanned aircraft systems, which can be launched by hand. According to the officials, the Raven drones will be equipped for surveillance missions.
Thirty heavy armored Humvees and 200 regular Humvees, as well as radios, counter-mortar radars and other equipment will be shipped 'in the next several weeks,' the officials said.
Biden also talked to Poroshenko about "the situation in the east, additional non-lethal US security assistance to Ukraine, and new sanctions on Russian-backed separatists and their supporters."
Russia has been targeted by a series of sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union for allegations that Moscow is supporting pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.
Earlier this week, US Secretary of State John Kerry said President Barack Obama was considering whether to arm Ukrainian forces and to impose harsher sanctions against Moscow over the alleged breaches of a recent ceasefire between the warring parties reached in the Belarusian capital Minsk.
Kerry also threatened to take action against Russia, calling the ceasefire a "failure."
The ceasefire has been reached last month between Ukraine's warring sides, including the government forces and pro-Russians at a summit attended by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France, and Germany in Minsk.
The deal calls for an immediate ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy armaments as the initial steps toward a political settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.
SB/GJH
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