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U.S. Says 'Contingency' Aid Ready If Russia Attacks Ukraine
The United States has prepared contingency military aid in the event of further Russian military incursions into Ukraine, the White House said on June 18.
www.rferl.org
6/19/21
The United States has prepared contingency military aid in the event of further Russian military incursions into Ukraine, the White House has said. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement on June 18 that recent U.S. media reports that the United States held back security assistance to Ukraine were "nonsense." "The idea that we have held back security assistance to Ukraine is nonsense. Just last week -- in the run-up to the U.S.-Russia summit -- we provided a $150 million package of security assistance, including lethal assistance," Psaki said in her statement. "We have also prepared contingency funds in the event of a further Russian incursion into Ukraine," she added. "As President Biden told President [Vladimir] Putin directly, we will stand unwavering in support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity." The United States has provided more than $2.5 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since 2014, when Russia forcibly seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and backed separatists in the east, sparking a war that has killed more than 13,000 people. Earlier this month, the Pentagon announced a $150 million package to Ukraine of "defensive lethal assistance," including counter-artillery radars, communications and electronic warfare equipment, and counter-drone systems. In March, the Pentagon announced another tranche of $125 million, including additional armed Mark VI patrol boats. The assistance comes from funds already committed by Congress for the U.S. government's fiscal year that ends in September.
This military assistance to Ukraine is vital in checking Russian hegemony in Eastern Europe.
If Russia did further invade Ukraine, military supplies would also pour in from the Baltic States, Poland, and Romania.
Ukraine says now is time for Russia to withdraw after Biden-Putin summit
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Thursday he welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden's tough messaging when he met President Vladimir Putin this week and said now was the time to make Russia withdraw from Ukraine.
www.reuters.com