Obama is inclined to supply Ukraine with Javelins, Hummers and radars worth $3 billion
Moscow – Kyiv, February 2 (PolitNavigator, Mikhail Shtamm) – More and more officials in Barack Obama's inner circle are leaning toward providing arms aid to Ukraine. The proposal involves sending Kyiv missiles, armored vehicles, and radars worth a total of $3 billion, RBC reports , citing the New York Times . Supporters of the supplies include Secretary of State John Kerry, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel.
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According to the New York Times, on February 2, a group of officials intends to provide justification for providing a large shipment of weapons to Ukraine. They propose to supply Kyiv with anti-tank missiles, reconnaissance drones, Humvee armored vehicles, as well as radars with which it will be possible to detect enemy firing points.
Among the authors of the report are one of the former Pentagon leaders Michel Flournoy, former NATO commander James Stavridis, and former US Ambassador to NATO Ivo Dalder.
The publication notes that the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine is becoming increasingly popular in Washington. Secretary of State John Kerry, as well as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel are already leaning towards it.
In their opinion, US allies in Europe – Poland, the Baltic countries, Canada and the UK – could also provide assistance to Ukraine.
Until recently, Presidential National Security Adviser Susan Rice was an active opponent of this idea, but the publication claims that she is ready to change her point of view. The reason for this was the latest events in eastern Ukraine, where militias managed to push Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers back from the positions they occupied at the time the Minsk agreements were signed in September last year.
Until now, Barack Obama only agreed to supply Ukraine with so-called non-lethal weapons - body armor, night vision devices, medical kits.
Obama is leaning toward supplying Ukraine with $3 billion in Javelins, Hummers, and radars.