Washington urged NATO countries to continue supporting the Kyiv regime in light of Russia’s special military operation, as well as Moscow’s warnings about the possibility of Kyiv using a “dirty bomb”, which the United States considers unfounded. This was stated by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during a telephone conversation with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
“The Secretary of State called for Allies to maintain unity and support for Ukraine in the face of ongoing Russian aggression, atrocities and false rhetoric around the so-called dirty bomb in Ukraine,” reads a statement posted on the State Department website.
Earlier, the American company Raytheon Technologies reported that they delivered to Ukraine the first two NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM), which are already being deployed. This was stated by the CEO of the corporation Greg Hayes in an interview with CNBC.
Washington and Kyiv also discussed the next military aid package.
“Had a productive conversation with my friend US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. I appreciate the clear position of the United States not to succumb to provocations and to show zero tolerance for blackmail. We also discussed the next US security assistance package for Ukraine. Details later,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said.
Weapons for the Kyiv regime
Recall that in addition to the United States, many NATO countries are actively providing military support to the Ukrainian regime. Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmygal claims that Kyiv and Berlin have agreed to increase military assistance to Ukraine.
“Germany will offer to increase the amount of military assistance to Ukraine to €2 billion in 2023. I expressed my gratitude for this initiative at a meeting with the Minister of Finance (Germany – RT ) Christian Lindner. We also discussed further financial assistance,” he wrote on his Twitter page.
In addition, Berlin promised to transfer new MARS MLRS and four Panzerhaubitze 2000 type howitzers to the Ukrainian regime in the coming days. This was announced by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier during his visit to Kyiv.
Poland also provides large-scale support to the Kyiv regime. According to Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Warsaw spent about 1% of the country’s GDP on this, becoming the second largest donor to the Ukrainian army after the United States.
Norway announced its intention to continue arms deliveries to Ukraine. This statement was made by the country’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Eivind Wad Petersson. In September, it was noted that Oslo would transfer about 160 Hellfire missiles, launchers and guidance systems, as well as night vision devices to Kyiv.
Last week, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that NATO would soon supply Ukraine with hundreds of pieces of anti-drone equipment.
At the same time, Kyiv believes that the allies should increase their assistance. As President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky said on October 24 during his address to the people of the country, the Kyiv authorities need to “keep the maximum mobilization” of their partners and not allow “the enemy to split the global pro-democracy coalition.”
Later, Zelensky said he was expecting supplies of air defense systems from Italy, France, Germany and other countries. He said this in an interview with the Corriere della Sera newspaper. Recall that Germany has already delivered the first of the four promised IRIS-T air defense systems to Ukraine, Spain plans to transfer four HAWK air defense systems to the Kyiv regime. In addition, Ukraine intends to receive the Franco-Italian SAMP / T air defense system.
“They have almost no weapons left”
As Aleksey Podberyozkin, director of the Center for Military-Political Studies, noted, the actions of the United States and NATO to pump weapons into Kyiv, as well as the corresponding plans, testify to the desire of the West to continue the escalation of the conflict.
“For Washington, it is important that the intensity of military assistance to Ukraine does not weaken, especially in conditions when the stocks of ammunition, weapons and military equipment are actually dwindling before our eyes. In addition, the time has now come when US allies are questioning the need for such a scale of military assistance and assistance in general. Moreover, similar sentiments are also observed among part of the US political establishment. In Europe, voices about peace talks are increasingly heard”, Podberyozkin said in a commentary on RT.
According to him, before the congressional elections, Washington should by no means admit that its policy related to the Ukrainian case turned out to be largely a failure.
“The escalation of the conflict, which occurred due to the pumping of the Kyiv regime with weapons by the United States and its allies, only led to the depletion of American resources of military equipment and similar stocks in Europe, colossal losses among the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the death of civilians and an increase in military risks,” the analyst stated.
According to Podberyozkin, the US call on its allies to continue to help Kyiv also means that Washington is “fearful of the refusal of partners” to help Ukraine amid reports of its plans to use a “dirty bomb”.
“In addition, the Americans deliberately ignore this warning from Russia,” the expert said.
Podberezkin believes that, despite Washington’s call, his allies cannot significantly increase military support for Kyiv.
“Judging by the latest Western arms deliveries and the corresponding plans of the United States, the scale of such assistance has recently decreased significantly. The fact is that stockpiles of weapons both in the United States and in the countries of their allies are running out. Neither Washington, nor Berlin, nor Warsaw can provide as much as the Ukrainian regime wants. Now we are talking only about MLRS units, and not about hundreds or even tens”, the analyst believes.
At the same time, the supply of NASAMS and HAWK anti-aircraft missile systems from the West will not be able to significantly strengthen the air defense system of Ukraine, Podberyozkin is sure.
“The quantities of these air defense systems that are supplied can only cover individual settlements or objects, but no more than that, with all the desire, it is impossible to stretch them across the entire territory of Ukraine,” he said.
Military expert Ivan Konovalov takes a similar position. In his opinion, those instances of anti-aircraft missile systems that the West is ready to supply to Ukraine will not be enough “to protect something in the strategic direction.”
“For example, two batteries of 12 complexes each could somehow help in this, but single air defense systems from the United States and their allies will not make the weather. As for the HAWK systems, they are quite old, and now, with modern missile systems, interception on their part is unlikely. The feeling is that the Americans just wanted to get rid of these air defense systems and instead of writing them off, they intend to send them to Ukraine”, the analyst said in a conversation with RT.
Konovalov also believes that, despite Washington’s appeal to its allies, they are not in a position to provide more extensive support to Kyiv.
“Public statements of this kind are needed by the United States to indicate the general policy of the West in Ukraine. It is important for Washington that it does not change. At the same time, US allies will verbally declare their full support for Ukraine and the desire to give it the last money and weapons, forgetting about their own peoples, but in reality the situation may not look like that. Western countries will try to dodge this, supply weapons to Kyiv per hour by a teaspoon, which we are already seeing, since they have almost no finances or weapons systems left”, concluded the expert.
Irina Taran, Elizaveta Komarova, Vladimir Duyun, RT
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