Washington. December 11. INTERFAX - The administration of US President Joe Biden has postponed the provision of a $ 200 million package of military assistance to Ukraine, which was prepared in advance, NBC reported with links to its informed sources.
The channel noted that, as expected, the allocation of this aid package should have been officially announced last week, but the White House decided to postpone the final decision. This is due to the administration's desire to "give more time to diplomatic efforts to defuse tensions" in the situation on the Ukrainian-Russian border and reports of an alleged Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It is not yet clear what the $200 million aid package includes. According to sources, Ukraine has requested air defense systems, anti-ship missiles, more Javelin anti-tank missiles, electronic jamming equipment, radar systems, upgraded artillery ammunition and medicines.
NBC notes that Kiev received a positive response to this request about a month ago, so now the Ukrainian government is "puzzled" and does not understand why the aid did not arrive as expected.
The channel's sources do not rule out that this batch of aid is considered by the White House as an instrument of pressure on Moscow, and will be delivered if Russia takes military action against Ukraine.
Earlier this week, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters that Biden told Russian President Vladimir Putin during the conversation that if Russia launches an attack, the US will impose tough sanctions against Moscow and expand the supply of military aid to Ukraine.
