The delivery comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Kyiv this week, which was prompted by fears about tens of thousands of Russian troops amassing on the Ukrainian border.
The first consignment of the US’ $200 million security assistance package for Ukraine has arrived in Kyiv, according to the US embassy.
The delivery came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Kyiv earlier this week, which was prompted by fears from Ukraine and its Western partners over tens of thousands of Russian troops massed on Ukraine’s border. Russia has denied that it is preparing a fresh military offensive.
On Saturday, the embassy wrote on Facebook that “the United States will continue to provide such assistance to support Ukraine’s armed forces in their continued effort to protect Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity against Russian aggression.”
Ukraine’s defence minister expressed gratitude to the United States for its assistance.
Meanwhile, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania will provide anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles developed in the United States to Ukraine, a move that Blinken said Washington strongly supports.
“I accelerated and authorized, and we fully back, NATO Allies Estonia Latvia Lithuania delivering defensive weaponry to Ukraine to boost its ability to defend itself against Russia’s unwarranted and irresponsible assault,” he tweeted.
We thank them for their unwavering support for Ukraine over the years.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, condemned Western weaponry sales to Ukraine as “very dangerous” and claimed they “do nothing to alleviate tensions” earlier this week.
NATO vows that Ukraine will never be admitted to the alliance, that no alliance weaponry will be put near Russian borders, and that NATO forces will withdraw from Central and Eastern Europe have all been rejected by the West.
Blinken’s meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday resulted in a stalemate.
‘Stand together.’
The defence ministers of the three Baltic republics said they “remain united in our commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of continuous Russian aggression” in a joint statement released late Friday.
They said Estonia will provide anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, while Latvia and Lithuania would deliver anti-aircraft missiles and other equipment to enhance Kyiv’s defensive military capabilities.
“Today, Ukraine is leading the charge in isolating Europe from Russia’s armed confrontation. Let’s face it: the conflict in Ukraine is still going on, and it’s critical that we support Ukraine in every manner we can so that they can fight back against the invader,” Estonian Defense Minister Kalle Lannet said.
Separately, Estonia is seeking German consent to deliver Soviet-made howitzers to Ukraine, which previously belonged to East Germany. The howitzers came from Finland, a non-NATO member that bought them from Germany’s military surplus supply in the 1990s.
On Friday, the German government said it was evaluating Estonia’s request to transfer the howitzers to Ukraine, but specified no timeframe for a decision.
While the gathering of troops around the Ukraine border was a “historic peacetime military build-up,” according to Matthew Bryza of the Atlantic Council, he believes war is not Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “preferred conclusion.”
“A full-scale invasion is prohibitively expensive. It’s perilous because there will be many Russian deaths, and the Ukrainian military is far more prepared than it was in 2014.”
After the toppling of Ukraine’s Moscow-friendly president in 2014, Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula and backed a separatist armed insurrection in eastern Ukraine.
“Civilians in Ukraine are ready to fight.” “There will be a partisan war for years, and there will be a lot of casualties,” Bryza continued.
Check out the highlights that Russia will attack Ukraine and that if it happens, his country will pay a “heavy price".
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