US prepares more than $2 billion in military aid to Ukraine It is expected to include longer-range missiles as well as other munitions and weapons for the first time, two US officials briefed on the matter told Reuters.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had not finished shuffling high-ranking officials. and that anyone who does not meet the strict standards faces the risk of being fired.
Some Western allies seem to have cooled off the idea of supplying Ukraine with F-16s and other fighter jets in the last 24 hours.. Joe Biden, the President of the United States, when asked at the White House late on Monday whether the country would provide the F-16, answered simply “no”, although on Tuesday morning he stressed that he would continue discussions with Ukraine about its requests for weapons.
The UK also said that the supply of Western aircraft was not feasible. “This is complex equipment,” a Downing Street spokesman said. “We do not consider it practical to send these planes to Ukraine.” They added that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak supported accelerating support for Ukraine after completing an analysis that a “protracted stalemate” in the conflict would benefit Russia.
Zelenskiy’s most senior adviser suggested on Monday that Poland is ready to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets. Andriy Yermak said Ukraine had received “positive signals” from Warsaw, although Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki was careful to stress that his own country would only act in consultation with NATO allies.
Ukraine says it will continue to lobby arguing that the West repeatedly refused to supply weapons such as tanks before eventually giving in. Defense Minister Aleksey Reznikov said during a visit to Paris: “All types of assistance went through the stage of absence at the beginning. This means that today there is not.
Reznikov’s French colleague Sebastien Lecornu confirmed that there is “no taboo” on the supply of aircraft. echoing similar remarks made by Emmanuel Macron on Monday evening. France also said it would hand over 12 Caesar howitzers to Ukraine following a summit meeting between the two ministers. Lecornu said the pair had discussed training Ukrainian pilots to fly French fighter jets, but no decision had yet been made.
Ukraine expects to receive 120-140 tanks in the “first wave” of supplies from a coalition of 12 countries, the Foreign Minister said. Dmitry Kuleba added that the first tranche will include German Leopard 2 tanks, British Challenger 2 and American M1 Abrams tanks, while Ukraine also “really looks forward” to agreeing on the supply of French Leclerc tanks. The number of heavy tanks publicly promised to Ukraine appears to be well below the 321 Ukraine’s ambassador to France, Vadym Omelchenko, said last week.
Russian forces are preparing for an imminent resumption of attack on Ukraine, most likely in the coming months, according to analysts. Citing Western, Ukrainian and Russian sources, the US think tank Institute for the Study of War said Moscow was “preparing for an imminent offensive,” citing remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg who said there were “no signs” that Vladimir Putin ” prepared for the world.”
Russian forces continued shelling positions behind the front line in the area of the eastern cities of Bakhmut and Donetsk. Moscow’s troops have been shelling Bakhmut in the Donbas for several months, but in recent days the invaders seem to have made another attempt to gain a foothold near the village of Vuhledar, 30 miles southwest of Donetsk. According to Zelensky, the situation in Bakhmut and Vuhledar was “very difficult” and both districts and other parts of the Donetsk region were “under constant shelling from Russia.”
The Russian troops probably turned the “trial attacks” around the towns of Pavlovka and Vugledar into a more “coordinated” assault. This is stated in the intelligence report of the British Ministry of Defense. “Russian commanders are likely seeking to develop a new offensive line into Ukrainian-held Donetsk Oblast and divert Ukrainian forces away from the heavily contested Bakhmut sector. There is a real possibility that Russia will continue to achieve local success in this sector.”
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko has said his country is “already ready” to offer more help to Russia in its war against Ukraine. Speaking during a state visit to Zimbabwe, a Russian ally, Lukashenka did not specify what this assistance would consist of. It comes at a time when Belarus and Russia are conducting a week-long joint exercise of the joint command of their regional group of forces.
According to a Western official, military casualties on both sides in the war were around 200,000. about the same number of dead and wounded on both sides. The official added that most of the Russians were killed because they were on the offensive, meaning “they suffered more deaths than Ukrainians as a whole.”
The US has accused Russia of failing to honor its obligations under the nuclear arms control treaty by preventing inspectors from visiting its nuclear facilities. Russia’s “refusal” to allow inspections under the New START treaty “prevents the United States from exercising important rights under the treaty and threatens the viability of US-Russian nuclear arms control,” a US State Department spokesman said.
