Now that the Senate has approved a nearly $61 billion Ukraine aid package and President Biden is poised to sign it, much-needed American weapons could arrive on the battlefield within days.
The arms package – which has been delayed since last fall due to political infighting among Republicans in the House of Representatives – is “a lifeline” for Kiev’s military, said Yehor Cherniev, the deputy chairman of the Ukrainian parliament’s National Security Committee.
But it will not contain everything President Volodymyr Zelensky has demanded of Ukraine as his military struggles to hold out against invading Russian forces after two years of war.
Here’s a look at what Ukraine says it needs, what it’s likely to receive as part of the American aid package, and whether it will be enough to make an immediate difference.
What Ukraine wants.
Mr. Zelensky says Ukraine primarily needs artillery ammunition and long-range missiles to attack Russian forces, as well as air defense installations to protect cities and key infrastructure such as military bases, power plants and weapons factories.
“We must inflict maximum damage on everything that Russia uses as a terrorist base and for its military logistics,” Mr. Zelensky said in his evening address to Ukrainians on Monday.
To achieve that, he said, Ukraine needs more Army long-range tactical missile systems – known as ATACMS and pronounced “Attack’ems” – to strike behind enemy lines and deep into Russian-held territory. The United States sent a small number of ATACMS with a range of about 100 miles to Ukraine last year, and they were used in attacks on two Russian air bases in October. Ukraine is demanding a longer-range version that can hit targets at a distance of about 300 kilometers.
Artillery ammunition, such as the Western-donated 155-millimeter caliber shells that fit into standard NATO launchers donated by the West, has been in short supply in Ukraine for more than a year, with Russian forces firing ten times as many shots on the battlefield as those superior Ukrainian Armed Forces troops, Mr. Zelensky said last week.
Mr Zelensky has also described air defense – and in particular the US-made Patriot anti-ballistic surface-to-air missile system – as “crucial”. And he has been pushing for F-16 fighter jets for more than a year to provide another layer of air defense in Ukraine’s ground war.
What Ukraine will get.
The Pentagon has prepared a $1 billion military aid package that will be sent to Ukraine as soon as Mr. Biden signs the funding bill, according to a U.S. official on Tuesday. The package, originally reported by Reuters, will include shoulder-launched Stinger surface-to-air missiles, 155-millimeter grenades, anti-tank missiles and combat vehicles.
The US official said the package would also include ammunition for the so-called High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which can fire ATACMS missiles. The official would not confirm whether ATACMS would specifically be part of the aid, and the Pentagon has generally refused to discuss the use of the missiles in Ukraine, partly out of concern that it could anger Russia by admitting that it has long-range weapons sends war to Ukraine.
It is unclear whether the US will send Ukraine another Patriot air defense system, as Germany and other allies are reportedly demanding. The systems are rare and expensive, and providing Ukraine with another system could mean it is excluded from protecting American assets at home and abroad.
Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, said on Tuesday that the American aid package would enable “advanced air defense systems” for Ukraine, but did not specify what kind.
Mr Stoltenberg also said NATO allies were working to deliver F-16 jets to Ukraine. But the United States has so far refused to donate any of its fighter jets, even though the Air Force has helped train some of the several dozen Ukrainian pilots so far learning to fly the planes. Officials said about 12 pilots should be ready to fly the F-16 in combat by July, but by then only six of the jets will have been delivered to Ukraine.
Will it be enough?
Although the $61 billion aid package is intended as support for Ukraine, Pentagon officials said up to $48 billion will go to American weapons manufacturers, either to replenish U.S. stockpiles that have been nearly depleted in the last two years of war or to build additional weapons for Ukraine.
The $1 billion infusion the Pentagon is preparing would come from remaining funds, and Sen. Mark Warner, Democrat of Virginia and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it could be “on the way by the end of the week.” That could immediately help bolster Ukraine’s front line, where forces must quickly stop Russian drones, jets and light bombers and prevent Ukraine from losing ground.
But Ukrainian officials appear skeptical that enough weapons will be delivered quickly or regularly in the coming months to maintain the momentum.
“If we get it, if we hold it in our arms, then we have a chance to take this initiative and move forward to protect Ukraine,” Mr. Zelensky said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Sunday. But, he said, “it depends on how quickly we get that help.”
Weapons and ammunition sent to Ukraine often come from Pentagon facilities in Europe, with deliveries coordinated by a team of about 300 employees in Germany.
But for months, American and other allies have repeatedly warned that they could give Ukraine few weapons until arms production could meet the war’s insatiable needs. This prompted Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, to ask where the new weapons package would come from in an interview published on Tuesday.
“Is this equipment available?” Ms. Markarova told the Ukrainian daily Ukrainska Pravda. “Are we going to find and produce enough equipment fast enough to get it?”
The funding helps, she said, but questioned whether all the weapons and equipment it pays for are “ready for delivery.”
“Unfortunately no,” said Ms. Markarova.
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2024-04-24 14:10:29
www.nytimes.com
