"title"=>"Pentagon defends pace of weapon shipments as Ukraine worries it’s too late",
"summary"=>"Weapon deliveries need “to be done properly,” a Pentagon spokesperson said.",
"content"=>"\n
The Pentagon is defending its steady rollout of weapons to Ukraine even as officials in Kyiv say the assistance is coming too slowly — and it might already be too late to help turn the tide of the war in Ukraine’s favor.
\n\n\n\nOn Wednesday, POLITICO detailed criticisms from high-ranking Ukrainian officials, who said they can’t defend the frontlines any longer: “There’s nothing that can help Ukraine now,” one of the officials said.
\n\n\n\nThe West doesn’t have the technology to help Ukraine, and it also hasn’t sent weapons quickly enough, the officials said. While the incoming F-16 fighter jets are welcome, they would’ve been more helpful a year ago, a senior officer said. The planes were originally expected to arrive in Ukraine by the end of 2023, and now they’re supposed to arrive by late spring once pilot training is complete.
\n\n\n\nThe Defense Department also wants the process to be quicker, but is arguing that it’s inching along for good reason.
\n\n\n\n“While getting F-16s to Ukraine sooner would be ideal, it still needs to be done properly and we believe they will still provide a significant boost to Ukraine’s air power when they become operational,” said Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz.
\n\n\n\nNational Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said more than a year ago that the jets alone wouldn’t be enough to change the course of the war in Kyiv’s favor, and the Ukrainian officials told POLITICO the delay has rendered them irrelevant on the battlefield due to the shifting nature of the war.
\n\n\n\nRussia’s large number of soldiers also “poses a formidable threat,” Dietz continued, but he argued that advanced Western weapon systems combined with Ukraine’s skilled forces and spirit are helping to level the playing field. Dietz noted that the U.S. has provided some $74.6 billion in assistance since the invasion began.
\n\n\n\nBut Ukraine seems to be making increasingly desperate moves, a sign that things aren’t going so well. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy lowered the minimum draft age from 27 to 25 years old this week as men dodge conscription, and fired a senior aide and several advisers in yet another government reshuffle.
\n\n\n\nKyiv’s delays in obtaining F-16s and Army Tactical Missile Systems from Washington are just two examples of “how much of a fight it’s been to drag the White House along to where our allies have been for months,” said Doug Klain, an Atlantic Council analyst focuses on Russia’s war in Ukraine. “We’ve already seen that their fears about escalation or Ukrainian proficiency are overblown.”
\n\n\n\nThe Pentagon is planning to send a number of older ATACMS to the country, which can travel 100 miles and carry warheads containing hundreds of cluster bomblets, and it already secretly sent some in September.
\n\n\n\nBut Ukrainian officials say there’s one thing that could make a difference now: They want more Patriot missile defense systems to protect against the recent barrages of Russian airstrikes, and they want them yesterday.
\n\n\n\n“Ukraine is the only country in the world that defends itself from ballistic missile strikes almost daily. Therefore, Patriot systems nowadays should operate in Ukraine and not be stored in hangars,” according to an internal Ukrainian government document sent Thursday setting out talking points for Ukrainian officials, obtained by POLITICO. “The transfer of Patriot systems to Ukraine is a matter of political will, not physical ability.”
\n\n\n\nUkrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Wednesday that partners haven’t been sending enough Patriot missile defense systems to Kyiv, and made the plea for more air defenses before a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday.
\n\n\n\nThe country has a few Patriot systems contributed by the U.S., Germany and The Netherlands — all of which Zelenskyy said were positioned only around Kyiv. Kuleba said partners have more than 100 Patriots at their disposal, and other top officials say that Ukraine can’t obtain more systems by itself.
\n","author"=>"Matt Berg",
"link"=>"https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/04/pentagon-ukraine-weapon-shipments-00150639?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication",
"published_date"=>Thu, 04 Apr 2024 20:42:48.000000000 UTC +00:00,
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"created_at"=>Fri, 05 Apr 2024 08:04:21.361096000 UTC +00:00,
"updated_at"=>Tue, 14 May 2024 05:23:36.906438000 UTC +00:00,
"newspaper"=>"Politico EU",
"macro_region"=>"Europe"}