The United States said it will provide Ukraine with $400 million worth of weapons, which will include for the first time Black Hornet spy drones, to help Ukraine in its ongoing fight against Russian aggression.
The Pentagon announced the new security aid package on July 25, which will mark the Biden administration’s 43rd drawdown of equipment from the Defense Department inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.
The package includes munitions for Patriot air defense systems and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), Stinger antiaircraft systems, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers, and Hydra-70 aircraft rockets, among others.
It also includes U.S.-furnished Black Hornet surveillance drones made by Teledyne FLIR Defense, which the Ukrainian military could use to monitor and fend off any potential Russian military offensive.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Russian military has continued to attack Ukrainian ports and grain infrastructure after Moscow terminated the Black Sea Grain Initiative last week.
“Russia could end this war at any time by withdrawing its forces from Ukraine and stopping its brutal attacks against Ukraine’s cities and people,” Mr. Blinken said in a statement.
“Until it does, the United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked Washington for the security aid package in a video message, adding that he discussed with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about security in the Black Sea.
“Rishi and I discussed possible steps and the possible number of air defense batteries. The United Kingdom can become the leader whose assistance with air defense systems will guarantee real security,” Mr. Zelenskyy said.
Black Sea Grain Deal
The Black Sea Grain Initiative is a crucial agreement initially brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last year that allowed Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea despite ongoing hostilities.
Russia has complained that key parts of the deal—which would let it export its own grain and fertilizers—were not being honored. Russian officials also assert that the original purpose of the grain deal—to ensure food security for poorer nations—remains unfulfilled.
Mr. Sunak said the United Kingdom was working closely with Turkey on restoring the grain deal and pledged to support Ukraine’s air defense and artillery needs with more ammunition and missiles being delivered.
Mr. Sunak said that “Russia was increasingly looking to target merchant vessels in the Black Sea area, and the UK was carefully monitoring the situation alongside our partners,” according to his office.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that hundreds of millions of people confronting a global cost-of-living crisis will have to “pay the price” for Russia’s decision to terminate the grain deal.
“Ultimately, participation in these agreements is a choice. But struggling people everywhere and developing countries don’t have a choice,” Mr. Guterres said in a July 17 statement. “They will pay the price.”
War Could Spiral Out of Control
Max Abrahms, associate professor of political science, told EpochTV’s “Crossroads” on July 17 that continuous arming of Ukraine could lead to an escalation of the war with Russia that could eventually spiral out of control.
“The current U.S. strategy is to basically coerce [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to the negotiating table by providing unlimited assistance to Ukraine, I don’t think that’s going to work,” Mr. Abrahms said.
The United States is likely banking on “the deterrence model” in its approach to the war in Ukraine, Mr. Abrahms said. “The idea is that if one side, say the Ukrainians, gets strong enough, that this will dissuade Russia from persisting with war.”
Mr. Abrahms’s concern is that “the West, pouring weapons into Ukraine, is going to drag out this war of attrition, [which] is actually going to make the Russians even more likely to turn their guns directly on the population.”
It was found in “methodologically serious research” that the main determinant as to whether a government is more or less likely to use massive force against the population, trying to slaughter them in thousands, is how desperate that government becomes, he said.
“Desperation is measured in terms of the length of the war, as well as the number of troops that they’ve lost in the course of the war,” he added. “There has been civilian bloodshed already in Ukraine, but it really could become even worse.”
From The Epoch Times