During a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels among the alliance's foreign ministers on Thursday, the US and UK led the way in forging a fresh agreement to give Ukraine "new and heavier" weapons, at a moment a limited number of Czech-provided Soviet-designed T-72M tanks have already been transferred to Kiev - reportedly with the quiet assistance of Washington.
"There was support for countries to supply new and heavier equipment to Ukraine, so that they can respond to these new threats from Russia," British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said at a press briefing.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that the US is "looking across the board right now, not only at what we have provided and whether there are additional systems that would make a difference." The latest cutting edge weaponry the Pentagon has transferred to Ukraine has included Switchblade drones, which are low-cost Kamikaze drones capable of destroying armored vehicles and tanks in the more advanced version of the system.
However, Blinken hasn't specified which "heavier" weapons the US would be willing to send. So far any efforts to transfer jets or tanks has been met with inter-alliance resistance given it would likely put NATO and Russia on a more direct collision course. This as on Friday Slovakia announced it has "donated" an S-300 air defense system to Ukraine.
Weapon shipments have also so far included Javelin ant-tank and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. But the Ukrainian government has persistently lobbied for more, often with emotional language - such as Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba's appeal to NATO this week: "The more weapons we get and the sooner they arrive in Ukraine, the more human lives will be saved," he said.
Ahead of the foreign ministers meeting, Kubela met with NATO Secretary- General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels, stating on Twitter that he had urged the "three most important things" for Ukrainians are "weapons, weapons, weapons."
So far Brussels appears to have responded positively. the UK's Truss has signaled that NATO is looking to go beyond the older Soviet-designed systems currently being given to Ukraine's military. This after all is what its forces are trained on and are efficient in. "We agreed to help Ukrainian forces move from their Soviet-era equipment to NATO standard equipment, on a bilateral basis," she said.
FM Kuleba has responded by saying he's "cautiously optimistic" NATO will meet the demands for more. "I was very specific about the requests and the timeline that they should be accommodated. I will be looking forward to the follow-up from allies," he said.
Poster Comment:
Good Duck & Cover morning 4um. Bidet's freakshow and NATO are busy this morning.
#1: BTP Holdings To: Esso (#0)
They should have listened to Patton when he wanted to "kick their asses back into Russia where they belonged while we have the men and equipment here to do it."
But you cannot turn an in ally now, can you? If something like that happened, it would have avoided the Iron Curtain and the Cold War. ;)
BTP Holdings posted on 2022-04-09 10:08:45 Reply Private Reply
#2: FormerLurker To: BTP Holdings (#1)
With the upper hand we had at the time with nukes however, it would have been one hell of a mess.
Surprised we didn't fight on Hitler's side back then though, we seem to love Nazis these days.
FormerLurker posted on 2022-04-09 12:52:11 Reply Private Reply
#3: BTP Holdings To: FormerLurker (#2)
Operation Paperclip was instituted at the end of WW II to bring ex Nazis and America. Werner von Braun was in charge of the German missile program. The Atlas V was five V-2's strapped together.
And then there was Chief of Gestapo Heinrich Mueller. He escaped to Switzerland at the end of the war. U.S. representatives went there in 1946 to interrogate him. When they asked about Hitler, Mueller replied, "You could try Spain." Then he added, "Perhaps the Russians can go to Barcelona and ask Franco about him. They might end up buried in an orange grove." Then he told the Americans, "And if you went there, you might end up in the next orange grove over."
Mueller was brought from Switzerland to the U.S., given a rank of Major in the U.S. Army and he played the piano for Harry Truman. The reason Mueller was brought here is because his specialty was Soviet counterintelligence. And we all know where the Soviet Union is today. ;)
BTP Holdings posted on 2022-04-09 14:59:13 Reply Private Reply