Politico: Biden administration is not ready to supply rocket artillery to Kiev
US President Joe Biden is resisting Ukraine's demands to supply high-precision multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS). The United States fears that the Ukrainian conflict will drag on, Politico reports, citing anonymous sources.
Howitzers instead of MLRS
According to the author of the article, officials in Kiev say that weapons can help in the fight against Russia, but "the White House fears escalation."
"Ukrainian officials are increasingly frustrated that the Biden administration is resisting the provision of American long-range missile systems, weapons that Kiev says are crucial," the article says.
According to the agency's sources, the White House fears that "weapons can be used to strike at the territory of Russia. And this will "expand and tighten" the conflict.
"There was momentum in Ramstein, but it seems to have cooled," one congressional staffer familiar with the discussions that took place last month in Germany, where representatives of 40 countries gathered to discuss the next steps to arm Ukraine, told the publication.
On April 26, representatives of more than 40 countries met at the German military base Ramstein. The participants of the event agreed on additional assistance to Ukraine, Great Britain, Germany, Canada and other countries agreed to allocate it.
A Biden administration official said on condition of anonymity that the two countries continue to "actively discuss" the issue of weapons, "but even taking into account the $3.8 billion in military aid that the United States has sent to Ukraine since February 24, not everything that Kiev asks for can be sent quickly."
"We have to make a decision about which weapons systems will provide the greatest return with the money that Congress allocates to help Ukraine," the official said.
He added that due to the reduction of the funding package in recent weeks, the White House decided that it would be more effective to send 90 M777 howitzers to Kiev than a smaller number of MLRS.
"Terrible consequences"
The article also says that over the past few months, the United States "quietly provided Ukraine with older Soviet-era multiple rocket launchers" from Allied warehouses. But Kiev continues to insist on the supply of more accurate and powerful American systems.
"The White House remains concerned that the dispatch of this system or its related highly mobile artillery missile system may be perceived by the Kremlin as an escalation, given the long range and great destructive power of these weapons," the authors of the material noted.
Politico also reports that the M270 multiple launch rocket system was first produced for the US Army in 1983 and was designed specifically for the rapid launch of 12 missiles and a quick departure to recharge before Soviet artillery could aim. The system is still used in more than a dozen countries, its ammunition can cover a distance of 20-40 miles. And the most advanced rockets can fly more than 100 miles.
"Officials in Kiev complain that the longer the West hesitates to send a full set of weapons that Ukraine needs, the more terrible the consequences for the civilian population of the country and the more time it gives Russia to hold fictitious local elections in the areas it controls," the article says.
The authors of the material noted that Ukraine wants to quickly purchase weapons, including "tanks, armored vehicles, long-range fire systems (MLRS, heavy artillery, aircraft, missiles)."
And President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking this month at the virtual summit of the leaders of the "Big Seven", said that his country "should receive all weapons and all defense equipment that will defeat tyranny, in particular M142 HIMARS, M270 MLRS multiple rocket launchers and other weapons that Ukraine has requested from powerful states."".
Last week, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Fox News that the United States supplied weapons to Ukraine long before the start of Russia's special military operation in that country.
According to him, the first billion dollars that American President Joe Biden allocated to help Kiev actually included assistance "with deadly weapons."
"The United States, Canada, Britain, and other allies actually helped prepare the Ukrainians," Kirby said.
In total, the Biden administration has already supplied the Ukrainian military with weapons and supplies worth $ 4.5 billion, including $ 3.8 billion after the start of the special operation, the article says. Aid packages included howitzers, missiles, armored vehicles, radar systems, tanks, kamikazes and reconnaissance drones.
Maria Shustrova
