New $600m safety help bundle follows a day after US pledges $1bn in military, humanitarian assist for Kyiv.
The United States has introduced a brand new $600m safety help bundle for Ukraine that features demolition munitions, mine-clearing equipment, artillery shells and different weaponry, only a day after pledging $1bn in new military and humanitarian assist for Kyiv.
Announced on Thursday, the $600m follows after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken introduced throughout a go to to Ukraine on Wednesday that Washington would supply $1bn in military and humanitarian assist for Kyiv, together with depleted uranium ammunition for US-made M1 Abrams tanks which might be anticipated to be delivered to Ukraine later this yr.
The newest $600m will “support Ukraine’s battlefield needs” and display “unwavering US support for Ukraine”, the Pentagon stated in an announcement on Thursday.
But the military help won’t instantly arrive on the battlefield, because it falls below the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) by which Washington procures equipment from the defence business or companions relatively than drawing from US military shares.
The again-to-again military assist bulletins come as US President Joe Biden’s administration works to present its continued help for Ukraine’s three-month-previous counteroffensive as troops strive to break by Russian defences and clear huge minefields.
Some allies have quietly expressed considerations in regards to the gradual-transferring offensive, whereas others say Ukraine has made some progress and has efficiently used air defences to knock down Russian missiles.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg stated on Thursday that Ukraine’s counteroffensive was progressing slower than anticipated, however Kyiv’s forces had been taking floor from Russian forces every day.
“The Ukrainians are gradually gaining ground and it proves the importance of our support and also our ability and willingness to continue the support,” Stoltenberg advised a committee assembly of the European Parliament in Brussels.
“This is heavy fighting, difficult fighting, but they have been able to breach the defensive lines of the Russian forces,” he stated.
“The Russian army used to be the second strongest in the world, and now the Russian army is the second strongest in Ukraine. That’s quite impressive,” he added.
Trent Maul, director of study for the US Defense Intelligence Agency, advised the Economist journal in a uncommon interview on Wednesday that there was a “realistic possibility” that Ukrainian forces may push by the whole Russian entrance line in southern Ukraine by the tip of the yr.
Russian defensive strains but to be encountered is also weaker than anticipated, Maul stated, and should not pose as a lot of a problem as the primary line of Russian defence that has slowed the progress of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Washington, DC-primarily based assume tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), stated on Thursday that Ukrainian forces had been making “tactical gains” and the counteroffensive might obtain “operational success” this yr, although there was nonetheless exhausting combating forward.
“Subsequent series of Russian defensive positions still pose significant challenges for Ukrainian forces and may in sections be strongly held,” the ISW stated.
The subsequent sequence of Russian defensive positions could also be weaker, much less mined, and fewer manned than the defensive layer that Ukrainian forces have breached. However, Russian defenses should not uniform throughout the entrance in southern #Ukraine… (1/3) https://t.co/2aLXRS6tO7 pic.twitter.com/A97EpDHhVS
— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) September 8, 2023
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