Stockholm – The United States on Wednesday announced $325 million in new military aid to Ukraine in a package expected to include more artillery rounds and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) rockets, as Ukraine continues to burn through artillery ammunition at a high rate.
Defense officials who spoke to VOA before the package was released say the latest aid also includes TOW anti-tank missiles, anti-tank mines and AT-4 anti-tank weapons needed to push back Russian ground forces that have dug into occupied areas of Ukraine.
Wednesday’s aid package marks the 36th authorized presidential withdrawal of military equipment from Defense Department inventories.
The aid comes as the battle lines in Ukraine have become static, exposing the weaknesses of the larger Russian power and Ukraine stubbornly defending its territory, according to a senior US official. The head of Ukraine’s ground forces said on Tuesday that Russia was increasing its use of heavy artillery and airstrikes in the battle for the eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, even as Russia continued to suffer significant losses in the battle.
Moscow launched a renewed offensive in Ukraine earlier this year that has stalled, and Kiev is preparing for a massive counteroffensive expected to be launched in the coming days or weeks.
“If and when Ukraine tries a spring offensive, and it’s kind of wiped out, then maybe you’re at a point where there might be enough of a stalemate that we’ll see somebody showing interest in a ceasefire,” said Michael O’Hanlon, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.
US officials and analysts, including O’Hanlon, have warned that the war could potentially drag into the US Republican primary season and throughout next year. But O’Hanlon said he believes U.S. and Western resolve over Ukraine will remain.
“I don’t see us abandoning Ukraine. I think the West has made this an issue of high strategic and moral importance, and we will keep it that way,” he told VOA.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley will travel to Germany later this week for another meeting with Ukraine’s Defense Contact Group, which includes about 50 nations coordinating aid to help Kiev fend off Russia’s invasion that began in February 2022. This week’s meeting at Ramstein Air Base marks one year since Austin brought the group together for the first time.
O’Hanlon said the group has performed better than predicted in maintaining supplies to Ukraine, demonstrated Western resolve to counter Russian aggression and have “Ukraine back even without having forces on the battlefield.”
The priorities during Friday’s meeting are expected to be ground-based air defense, armor and artillery needs, according to a senior defense official.
“We think that will be a clear signal of not only unity – we continue to be as strong as we were a year ago – but also that that support will be constant going forward,” the official said, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity that they would be anonymous. of the meeting.
Even with massive assistance from the group, Ukrainian forces have experienced ammunition and weapons shortages on the battlefield. A leaked US military memo shared concerns that Ukraine could run out of Soviet-era air defenses as soon as May, making Ukraine more vulnerable to Russian airstrikes.
Sweden and NATO
Austin arrived in Sweden on Tuesday for a visit to emphasize US support for Sweden’s application for NATO membership, according to a senior defense official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. Sweden and Finland sought to join NATO in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
Finland was admitted as NATO’s 31st member earlier this month, but Turkey and Hungary have so far withheld ratification of Sweden’s application due to bilateral differences.
The senior US official said Sweden’s ascension would strengthen NATO’s defense capabilities in the Baltic Sea, where Russia has a “substantial presence”.
Austin will meet Sweden’s defense minister on Wednesday and the prime minister on Thursday. He will also see some of Sweden’s advanced military capabilities during the visit.
Earlier this week, Sweden began its largest military exercises in the country in more than 25 years. The Aurora 23 military exercises include troops from the US, UK, France, Germany and neighboring Nordic countries and will run through May 11.
Source: sn.dk