Ukraine is suffering from ammunition shortages and is waiting for the US Congress to approve a new aid package. However, congressmen there have begun to consider this item of expenditure too expensive, writes Ouest-France. Theoretically, Europe could also help it, but Kiev itself has admitted that it has only Plan A – America.
The Ukrainian army’s firing rate has dropped significantly: from 6,000 to 2,000 rounds a day, Ouest-France writes. Not only shells, but also tanks and armoured infantry vehicles are in short supply. Air defence means are still enough, but Ukrainian generals admit that already in the medium term they will not do without the help of Western countries.
“A very real shortage of ammunition and equipment is now looming over the Ukrainian army,” writes the author of the article. Since the beginning of the war, the Pentagon has already carried out 54 transfers of equipment and ammunition for $24 billion. And if we count from 2014, Congress has already allocated more than $47 billion to arm Kiev. But American parliamentarians began to consider this item of expenditure too expensive.
“As in all good westerns, when the situation becomes critical, the cavalry arrives with a signal horn,” writes the author of the article. In the case of Ukraine, the Europeans could become such cavalry. They have scheduled an extraordinary summit for 1 February, at which they intend to discuss strategy in case of absence, not necessarily temporary, of supplies of equipment and ammunition from the Americans.
But Kiev is under no illusions, the newspaper writes, – it expects exactly the US cavalry. Thus, the Ukrainian foreign minister expressed confidence that the new US aid package will eventually be approved: “We don’t have a plan B. We are confident in plan A.” By plan A is meant America.