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U.S. Announces More Weapons For Ukraine As Defense Ministers Meet To Discuss Increasing Aid

By RFE/RL June 15, 2022

The United States has announced additional rounds of weapons for Ukraine valued at around $1 billion as Ukraine presses the West to deliver more military aid in the face of a Russian offensive in the eastern Donbas region.

U.S. President Joe Biden said he informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that the United States would provide the assistance, including additional artillery and coastal-defense weapons, as well as ammunition for artillery and advanced rocket systems.

"We also remain committed to supporting the Ukrainian people whose lives have been ripped apart by this war," Biden said in a statement, saying that he informed Zelenskiy about the additional aid during a phone call earlier on June 15.

He said he was also announcing an additional $225 million in humanitarian assistance to people in Ukraine. The money is to be used to supply safe drinking water, medical supplies, food, shelter, and cash for families to purchase essential items.

The latest weapons packages include 18 howitzers, 36,000 rounds of ammunition for them, two Harpoon coastal-defense systems, artillery rockets, secure radios, thousands of night-vision devices, and funding for training, the Pentagon said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he had talked to Secretary of State Antony Blinken to thank him for the "crucial military assistance" from the United States.

He said on Twitter that he "emphasized that we urgently need more heavy weapons delivered more regularly."

Zelenskiy said he was grateful for the new American arms package.

"The United States announced new strengthening of our defense, a new $1 billion support package," Zelenskiy said in his nightly address. "I am grateful for this support. It is especially important for our defense in (the eastern region of) Donbas."

Kyiv has been pleading for more Western weapons to help it counter Russia's invasion.

"Every day I fight for Ukraine to get the necessary weapons and equipment," Zelenskiy said. "But courage, wisdom and tactical skills cannot be imported. And our heroes have those."

Zelenskiy said he also held a phone conversation with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The U.K. leader said on Twitter that London supports Kyiv "until its eventual victory."

The Group of Seven (G7) and NATO summits later this month "will be an opportunity to demonstrate the West's unity and resolve to support Ukraine in the long-term," Johnson said.

In Brussels, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with allies to discuss support for Ukraine.

At the start of the meeting, Austin said the West must step up weapons deliveries and "push ourselves even harder to ensure that Ukraine can defend itself, its citizens, and its territory."

Austin expressed gratitude for the military aid that partners already had shipped or pledged but cautioned that "we can't afford to let up and we can't lose steam. The stakes are too high."

The meeting of around 50 allies hosted by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg comes with Kyiv imploring the West to send more weapons to help fend off Russia's onslaught in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine delivered a message to the meeting on behalf of its embattled troops.

"Brussels, we are waiting for a decision," said Mykhaylo Podolyak, a senior aide to Zelenskiy, warning that Ukraine was outgunned by 10 to one.

"Daily, I receive a message from the defenders: 'We are holding on, just say: when to expect the weapons?'" he said.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on June 14 that Ukraine's military had received only around 10 percent of the Western weapons it had requested.

"No matter how much effort Ukraine makes, no matter how professional our army, without the help of Western partners we will not be able to win this war," Malyar said.

She said Ukraine used 5,000 to 6,000 artillery rounds a day, while Russia uses 10 times more.

Stoltenberg warned it would take time to get the latest hardware into service with trained Ukrainian troops.

"Ukraine is really in a very critical situation and therefore, it's an urgent need to step up," Stoltenberg told journalists ahead of the gathering of NATO ministers.

Stoltenberg said that the allies had moved from sending older equipment to delivering "more long-range, more advanced air-defense systems, more advanced artillery, more heavy weapons."

"So it is also a fact that when we now are actually starting the transition from Soviet-era weapons to more modern NATO weapons there will also be some time needed to just make the Ukrainians ready to use and operate these systems," he said.

Stoltenberg said NATO leaders at a summit in Madrid later this month should agree a "comprehensive assistance package" for Ukraine to help switch its forces to NATO-standard weapons over the longer term.

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht announced after the meeting that Germany will provide Ukraine with three MARS II multiple-rocket launchers. Germany is also to provide missiles for the launcher, train Ukrainian soldiers in operating the systems, and provide replacement parts, Lambrecht said.

While the Western allies debate how best to help Ukraine, Chinese President Xi Jinping assured Russian President Vladimir Putin of Beijing's support for Moscow.

China has refused to condemn Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and has been accused of providing diplomatic cover for Russia by criticizing Western sanctions and arms deliveries to Kyiv.

State media reported that China was "willing to continue to offer mutual support [to Russia] on issues concerning core interests and major concerns such as sovereignty and security."

The Kremlin said Xi and Putin had agreed during a phone call to ramp up economic cooperation in the face of "unlawful" Western sanctions.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/stoltenberg-agrees-ukraine- needs-more-heavy-weapons/31898875.html

Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.