According to the US government, Ukraine has received additional fighter jets. Canada wants to supply heavy artillery. The Ukrainian ambassador in Berlin is dissatisfied with the German arms offer.
According to the US, Ukraine has received additional fighter jets for the war once morest Russia. Ukraine now has more fighter jets than two weeks ago, US Defense Department spokesman said John Kirby, on Tuesday in front of journalists. Ukraine has received additional aircraft and parts, Kirby added, without providing further details on their origin. The West had previously announced the delivery of heavy weapons.
More artillery pieces are said to come from the USA and Great Britain. Heavy artillery is also supplied from Canada. In addition, the Netherlands and Belgium will send heavy weapons. Germany was still cautious. Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced following a video conference with Western heads of state and government that there would be close coordination.
Further military aid package in preparation
Meanwhile, the United States is preparing another military aid package for Ukraine. It will be roughly the same size as the $800 million package launched last week, according to several people familiar with the matter. The details are still being worked out, one of the insiders said on Tuesday evening (local time). That would bring US military aid to Ukraine to well over $3 billion since Russia invaded in February.
“This is going to be an artillery conflict,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson told MPs in London. His country is also examining the possibility of sending missiles to attack ships. Among other things, it will be looked at whether “Brimstone” rockets can be mounted on vehicles, Johnson explained. Other options would also be explored. The missiles are usually fired from fighter jets. According to the manufacturer MBDA, they can be used once morest targets on land and at sea.
Ukraine claims to have so badly damaged the Russian missile cruiser “Moskva” by missilesthat it later sank. Russia, on the other hand, speaks of a fire on board. The loss of the warship is considered one of the most serious setbacks for the government in Moscow since the invasion began.
Scholz under pressure for arms deliveries
Scholz emphasized that he would finance direct arms deliveries from German industry, but he avoided making specific statements on the subject of heavy weapons. “We asked the German armaments industry to tell us what material they can supply in the near future,” said Scholz in Berlin. “Ukraine has now adopted a selection from that list and we are providing them with the money to purchase it.” As before, these include anti-tank weapons, anti-aircraft equipment, ammunition “and also anything that can be used in an artillery battle”.
Ukraine criticized Scholz’s announcement as insufficient. The statements of the German Chancellor were noted in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv “with great disappointment and bitterness”, said the Ukrainian Ambassador in Berlin, Andriy Melnyk, the German Press Agency. “The thesis that the Bundeswehr is no longer able to deliver anything to Ukraine is incomprehensible,” said Melnyk. For example, 100 of the 400 German Marder infantry fighting vehicles are only used for training and can be handed over to Ukraine immediately. Most of the 800 Fuchs armored transport vehicles are also not in use. “We call on the federal government to play openly on this crucial issue and not to beat around the bush,” said Melnyk. “Any further unnecessary delay costs more lives.”
(APA/dpa/Archyde.com/AFP)
