..
NATO countries are providing Ukraine with extraordinary amounts of weapons. Some are doing it out of stupidity, some because the leaders of the governments hold shares in companies that manufacture weapons, and some are doing it as a means of wealth transfer from ordinary tax-payers to the wealthy, military, industrial oligarchs who support them financially.
These things are for sure in this epoch madness:
Russia will be backed into a corner until it comes out in a new and terrifying way;
The billions of dollars spent on industrial death machinery, could have actually made the world a safer and better place;
The Global warming frenzy has been completely ignored in this theatre;
The suffering of Russian-speaking people in the Donbas has been totally ignored by the press and western governments;
The Pentagon support of dozens of biochemical labs in Ukraine is being ignored;
The Pentagon support of the NAZI (not neo-nazi) AZOV Batallion which has terrorized Donbas for more than 8 years now, is being ignored.
NATO countries, especially the USA, forced this proxy war with Russia, in part, to stop NordStream 2 from providing natural gas to Europe, and causing havoc in Europe's energy sector.
NATO countries are also trying to destroy the Russian economy
The provision of heavy artillery, tanks, missiles, etc will result in the deaths of thousands of soldiers and civilians and will push the economy of Ukraine back many years.
Ukraine cannot afford to buy these weapons systems, they are paid for by ordinary tax-payers of the donating countries.
Truth is the First Casualty of war.
U.S. announces $2.5B military package for Ukraine
By Darryl Coote
The State Department on Thursday announced a $2.5 billion military package for Ukraine that includes
Stryker armored vehicles. File photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo
Jan. 19 (UPI) -- The United States on Thursday announced a $2.5 billion military assistance package for Ukraine that includes hundreds of armored vehicles as well as air defense systems but no tanks despite Kyiv's repeated calls for the front-line combat machinery.
Poland has declared that it will send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine - see next article, last para.
The package, announced and approved by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, is one of the largest the United States has committed to for Ukraine and comes two weeks after a $3.75 billion drawdown from U.S. stockpiles was approved and a day before a group of ally nations are to meet in Germany to discuss military support for the war-torn country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has incessantly called on ally nations that have been arming him in his fight against Russia for more advanced and modern weapons, with his most recent requests being for Western tanks and air defense systems needed to recapture regions of the country seized early in the war by Russia and to shield cities and infrastructure from Moscow missile attacks.
Though some countries have said they are willing to provide tanks to Ukraine, the United States has been reluctant to do so, stating it does not object to other nations supplying it with the weaponry but that it will continue to provide Kyiv with weapons it sees that are necessary.
During a press conference Thursday, Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters the issue of sending Abrams tanks is one of "sustainment," stating the U.S. tanks are more difficult to maintain than those that other nations can supply.
"Just doesn't make sense to provide that to the Ukrainians at this moment," she said.
Instead of tanks, the package announced Thursday contains more than 550 armored vehicles, including 59 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles and 90 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers, among others.
National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missiles Systems, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and eight Avenger air defense systems were also included, on top of tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition, missiles and other equipment.
The package is the 30th drawdown from Pentagon stockpiles and lifts U.S. military support to Ukraine amid the Biden administration to some $27.5 billion.
Blinken in a statement announcing the package said the United States will continue to "rally" international support for Ukraine.
"We have seen incredible solidarity from our allies and partners, including at today's Ukraine Defense Contact Group, and we applaud the more than 50 countries who have come together to make significant contributions to support Ukraine," he said.
"Russia alone could end this war today. Until it does so, we will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes."
Kremlin forces for months have been targeting Ukraine's critical infrastructure and cities, devastating its energy systems and killing civilians. A strike on a residential building in the city of Dnipro late last week killed more than 40 people, and scattered rescuers to search through rubble for survivors.
The Department of Defense has been increasing its delivery of air defense systems to Ukraine, seeing them as a way to defend against such strikes.
"The Kremlin's most recent air attacks against Ukraine's critical infrastructure again demonstrated the devastating impact of Russia's brutal war in Ukraine," the Pentagon said in a statement Thursday. "This package provides additional NASAMS munitions and Avenger air defense systems to help Ukraine counter a range of short- and medium-range threats and bolster Ukraine's layered air defense."
Zelensky had yet to comment on the package as of Thursday night, but in his nightly address described the mission of Ukraine and its partners is to ensure Russia achieves none of its military goals, for which they require modern Western tanks.
Negotiations for the weapons are ongoing, he said.
During the day, European Council President Charles Michel was in Kyiv for talks with the Ukrainian president and said that he "firmly" believes tanks must be delivered, and suggested in a speech before the Verkhovna Rada Parliament that they may be included in a forth coming military package.
"The coming weeks and months will be decisive," he said. "You need more. More air defense systems, more long-range missiles and ammunition and, most of all, you need tanks. Right now."
On Thursday, representatives from Britain, Estonia, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark and several other European nations met ahead of the meeting in Germany and committed to "collectively pursuing delivery of an unprecedented set of donations, including main battle tanks, heavy artillery, air defense, ammunition and infantry fighting vehicles."
"We recognize that equipping Ukraine to push Russia out of its territory is as important as equipping them to defend what they already have," the countries said in a joint statement. "Together, we will continue supporting Ukraine to move from resisting to expelling Russian forces from Ukrainian soil."
What madness!
============================================================================================
Sweden, Britain provide new weapons, missiles for Ukraine
By Patrick Hilsman
Jan. 19 (UPI) -- Sweden and Britain on Thursday both announced packages of military aid for Ukraine, including weapons and missiles, prompting a warning from Moscow.
The office of the Swedish prime minister on Thursday announced a $415 million "three-part support" package that includes Archer artillery systems.
"This includes recoilless rifles with ammunition, anti-tank weapons, assault rifles, mine clearing equipment, Combat Vehicle 90 (CV90) with ammunition, and light anti-armor weapon Robot 57 (NLAW), worth [$415 million]," the text continues.
The Swedish government has also asked the armed forces to prepare for the transfer of Archer B artillery systems and ammunition to Ukraine.
The Archer B artillery system is a self-propelled howitzer, with a range of approximately 21 miles, which can be extended by using specially modified shells. It also has the capability to fire a salvo of artillery shells and then rapidly move to another location, a feature that could help Ukrainian artillery crews avoid Russian counterfire.
Artillery has become crucial to Ukrainian forces who are trying to take out Russian command and control centers behind the front lines while holding off Russian advances in the eastern Donetsk region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Sweden for the upcoming aid in a tweet Thursday.
"Sincerely grateful to the Government of Sweden & @SwedishPM for the new military assistance package to Ukraine. CV90 IFV's, Archer self-propelled howitzer & NLAW ATGMs are powerful weapons that [Ukraine's] army needs to liberate our land from the Russian invader together to a common victory," Zelensky wrote.
The British Secretary of Defense, Ben Wallace, announced that his county would also be supplying additional weapons to Ukraine Thursday.
"We're going to send another 600 Brimstone missiles into theater which will be incredibly important in helping Ukraine dominate the battlefield," Wallace told reporters.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov denounced the provision of military supplies to Ukraine during a call with journalists Thursday.
"The discussion itself about the permissibility of supplying Ukraine with weapons that will allow it to strike at Russian territory -- although Ukraine already has weapons with which it constantly strikes at our new regions -- is potentially extremely dangerous," he said. "It will mean bringing the conflict to a new qualitative level, a level that will not bode well for European security."
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III met with his German counterpart Thursday to discuss aid to Ukraine. The German government has said they would provide Leopard 2 battle tanks to Ukraine, if the United States also delivers tanks.
On Wednesday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said his country is ready to deliver its own German-built Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, even without German approval.
============================================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment