Despite rumors that the leader of the war-torn nation, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, may visit Washington, DC, a US official has said President Joe Biden’s administration will soon announce a $1.8 billion military aid package for Kyiv, which will for the first time include a Patriot missile battery and precision-guided bombs for Ukrainian fighter jets.
According to the Associated Press, US officials provided specifics of the aid package on Tuesday under the condition of anonymity.
Zelenskyy might visit Washington, DC to meet Biden and the US Congress, according to media outlets quoting anonymous sources on Wednesday. The Ukrainian president may yet have to alter his plans due to security concerns, a source told the Reuters news agency after Zelenskyy’s spokesperson declined to comment on the trip.
Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi earlier on Tuesday said in a letter that Congress will meet on Wednesday night with a “very special focus on democracy,” fueling rumors that the president of Ukraine might travel to the US capital.
According to AP, the $1.8 billion aid package that Biden is expected to reveal indicates an increase in the kind of cutting-edge weaponry that the US is supplying Ukraine to strengthen the nation’s air defenses against what has been an increasing bombardment of Russian missile attacks.
According to the AP, the package will contain around $1 billion in weaponry from Pentagon stockpiles and an additional $800 million in money from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which pays for guns, ammunition, training, and other assistance, officials said.
Despite Russian concerns that delivery of such a sophisticated surface-to-air missile battery would be viewed as provocative and that the system – and any troops accompanying it – would be a valid target for Moscow’s military, the Biden administration decided to dispatch the Patriot missile system.
It is unclear when the Patriot will reach the front lines in Ukraine, and US personnel will need to instruct Ukrainians on how to operate the sophisticated system. The Grafenwoehr Training Area in Germany is slated to host that training, which might last for several weeks.
Ukraine’s armed forces have received all of their training from the US and its allies in Western nations.
As part of a massive spending measure, the US Congress is prepared to approve an additional $44.9 billion in aid for Ukraine at the time the aid package is likely to be announced. That would guarantee that US backing for Kiev would continue throughout the following year, even when Republicans took over the House of Representatives in January.
Regarding the quantity of US aid going to Ukraine, some Republican legislators have raised concern.
An undisclosed quantity of Joint Direct Attack Munitions kits, or JDAMs, will also be included in the soon-to-be-announced deal, according to authorities.
The kits will be used to alter bombs so that they can be released toward a target after being guided there instead of just being dropped from a fighter jet by adding tail fins and precise navigation systems.
The JDAMs are used by US fighter and bomber aircraft, and the Pentagon has been working to modify them so that Ukraine’s air force can employ them.
The Patriot would be the most advanced surface-to-air missile system the West has given Ukraine to help defend against Russian aerial attacks. Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have pressed Western leaders to provide more advanced weapons, particularly for air defense.
In addition to Moscow’s warning that the use of the cutting-edge aircraft would be viewed as provocative, Washington has been reluctant to provide Ukraine with US fighter jets.
The Pentagon is assisting Kyiv in coming up with creative methods to enhance its current fleet with the most modern features available on US jets rather than giving Ukraine new aircraft.
The soon-to-be-announced aid package will also contain trucks, an unspecified number of HARM air-to-surface anti-radiation missiles, thousands of artillery and mortar rounds, and unspecified numbers of rockets for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
Officials claim that US reluctance to equip the Patriots was ultimately overridden by Kyiv’s urgent appeals and the terrible devastation of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, including loss of electricity and heat during the winter.
Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, added on Tuesday that France has sent more air defense missile systems and other weapons to Ukraine and will send more in the first few months of 2019.
Macron informed French television stations TF1 and LCI that France has recently provided Ukraine more weapons, rocket launchers, Crotale (air defense batteries), and equipment than had previously been done.
In order for the Ukrainians to be able to defend themselves against bombardments, he added, “We are also working with the armed forces minister [Sebastien Lecornu] to be able to transfer useful guns and ammunition again in the first quarter [of 2023].
New Caesar mobile artillery pieces are among the upcoming planned shipments, however Macron did not give specific numbers.
The outcome of current negotiations with Denmark, which had ordered the Caesar guns from France and may agree to deliver at least part of them to Kiev, the French president stated the number “will depend.”
France has sent Ukraine 18 Caesar units and a 155-mm howitzer mounted on a six-wheel truck chassis since Russia invaded in February. This weapon can fire shells at distances of more than 40 km (25 miles).
Regarding arms transfers, Macron stated that he had two “red lines”: they could not compromise France’s capacity for self-defense and could not turn Paris into a party to the conflict.
According to him, the weapons would “allow Ukraine to defend itself” from a constant bombardment of Russian missile and drone attacks.
In addition, Paris has already sent armoured personnel carriers, anti-tank missiles, and anti-aircraft missiles.
