The coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, said that the United States will continue to discuss with Ukraine the possibility of supplying it with "additional air defense systems".WASHINGTON, October 11.
/tass/. The US authorities expect to transfer the first two NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems to Kiev "in the very near future". This was stated on Tuesday at a regular briefing by the coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council (NSC) of the White House, John Kirby.
He recalled that earlier Washington announced its intention to supply Ukraine with eight such systems. Deliveries are planned to be carried out within the framework of the initiative to promote the security of Ukraine (Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, USAI), which involves the conclusion of contracts by the US Defense Department with manufacturers, and not the provision of equipment directly from the Pentagon reserves. "We are working hard to transfer the first two [complexes] of NASAMS to them. We believe that we are on the way to pass [them] <...> in the very near future," he said, refusing to give an exact date. "Without a doubt, we are interested in speeding up the delivery of NASAMS to Ukraine as much as possible," the White House representative stressed.
Kirby also noted that the United States will continue to discuss with Ukraine the possibility of supplying it with additional air defense systems, but there are no announcements yet. "We are constantly discussing their needs with the Ukrainian side, and their needs are changing. <...> Now, of course, we are talking about air defense again. <...> We will continue to work with them on their additional needs in the future, this includes continuing to discuss additional capabilities in the field of air defense," the official explained.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request from the leaders of the Donbass republics for help. The West then imposed large-scale sanctions against Russia. Western states have increased the supply of weapons and military equipment to Kiev in the amount of billions of dollars.
