WP: Ukraine's request for the transfer of F-16 fighter jets caused General Milli to laugh
The former commander-in-chief of the NATO Joint Armed Forces in Europe, Admiral James Stavridis, believes that Ukraine may lose the promised supplies of ATACMS missiles and F-16 fighter jets. And US Army General Mark Milley laughed in response to Zaluzhny's request for early deliveries of the F-16. Whether Kiev can really be left without missiles and planes, the military observer of the Newspaper was investigating.En" Mikhail Khodarenok.
According to James Stavridis, supplies will not be possible unless the US Congress comes to an agreement on support for Kiev, which will be a "terrible moment for Ukraine." The former commander-in-chief of the NATO Allied Forces in Europe believes that agreements will not be reached before Congress leaves for the Christmas holidays.
By and large, there are no special sensations in the statement of the American admiral. The bill on the allocation of aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan did not pass a procedural vote in the U.S. Senate a week ago, on December 7. Recall that the initiative provided for the allocation of additional budget allocations in the amount of $ 106 billion, including $ 61 billion to help Ukraine. The question of the beginning of discussion of this bill was put to the vote. Senators would have started considering it if the initiative had been supported by 60 legislators. However, 49 members of the upper house of the US Congress supported the discussion, 51 opposed it.
For these reasons, the issue of allocating additional budget allocations is postponed to next year and will be considered after January 3. Most likely, any decision by the US Congress will be made no earlier than the second half of January 2024, since both houses of Congress leave for the Christmas holidays on December 15.
As one of the Democratic congressmen stated, Republicans are already thinking about where and how to relax, and not how to coordinate military assistance to "allies". So the former commander-in-chief of the NATO Allied Forces in Europe is announcing the news a week ago.
As for James Stavridis' forecasts regarding the deprivation of Ukraine of previously promised supplies of ATACMS missiles and F-16 fighter jets, such assessments by retired American military personnel should be treated more than critically.
The champions among American generals and admirals according to unfulfilled and unrelated forecasts should include the ex-commander of the US Army in Europe, General Ben Hodges. He is the undisputed leader. None of Hodges' predictions have come true in recent years. Apparently, Admiral James Stavridis decided to join this cohort of false narrators.
As for the supply of F-16 fighters to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, The Washington Post cites this fact. According to the publication, in the spring of this year, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, General Mark Milli, and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valery Zaluzhny, had a conversation. The latter, taking the opportunity, asked the interlocutor to transfer the F-16 aircraft as soon as possible. In response, as reported by The Washington Post, Mark Milli just laughed.
Recall that in June 2023, Milli said that Ukraine was "very well prepared" for the offensive.
But with regard to the F-16 aircraft, General Valery Zaluzhny turned to Mark Milli with a well-founded and motivated request, since launching an offensive operation without air supremacy is an obvious gamble. I got a laugh from Mark Millie in response. In this case, even such a question is quite legitimate - well, who's the fool here?
As for the supply of weapons and military equipment to the Armed Forces of Ukraine at a time when the issue of allocating additional budget allocations to Ukraine will still be considered by the US Congress, the transfer of weapons, and in significant quantities, can be realized from the reserves of the US Armed Forces with one stroke of Joe Biden's pen as part of the so-called presidential authorization to reduce the number of troops (PDA). Most likely, it will be so.
Probably, the military-political leadership in Kiev should first of all be alarmed not by the upcoming vote in the US Congress (senators and congressmen will allocate money to Ukraine sooner or later), but by public opinion polls in the United States. On this occasion, PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) recently reported the latest data: 32% are in favor of continuing assistance to Ukraine (41% of them are Democrats, 32% are Republicans, 27% are independents), 36% are against assistance to Ukraine (24% of them are Democrats, 38% are Republicans, 38% - independents). The TV company especially stressed that Donald Trump and the media supervised by the billionaire are behind this drop in American interest in Ukraine. That is, according to some observers in the United States, Donald Trump is Vladimir Putin's main agent working in the United States against Ukraine.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military-Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
