Kyiv (TIP): Western nations promised more and more advanced arms to bolster Ukraine’s defence as its troops battled a grinding Russian offensive that was closing in on capturing a key city in the east.
Germany said on June 1 it would supply Ukraine with modern anti-aircraft missiles and radar systems, and the US will also unveil a new weapons package that will include high-tech, medium-range rocket systems.
The Kremlin spokesman said the US was “adding fuel to the fire”. Western arms have been critical to Ukraine’s success in stymieing Russia‘s much larger and better equipped military — thwarting its initial efforts to take the capital and forcing Moscow to shift its focus instead to the eastern industrial Donbas region.
But as the war drags on and Russia bombards towns in its inching advance in the east, Ukraine has repeatedly pleaded for more and better weapons. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has occasionally criticised the West for moving too slowly in shipping arms — and military analysts have said Russia is hoping to overrun the Donbas before any weapons that might turn the tide arrive.
In addition to the rocket systems it has promised, the US package will include helicopters, Javelin anti-tank weapon systems, tactical vehicles, spare parts and more, two senior administration officials said on Tuesday. Moscow views the US plans to supply more weapons “negatively”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. — AP