What is US' new arms policy for Ukraine war?
Pars Today- The US president has approved a plan which urges his European allies to buy military equipment (worth billions of euros) from Washington to be delivered to Ukraine.
According to Pars Today, this plan has been aimed at reinforcing Ukraine's air defense against the increasing Russian attacks with delivering Patriot missile systems. Ukraine has asked for more Patriot systems from the US several times during the recent months. Patriot is one of the few defense systems in the world which is claimed to be able to intercept and destroy ballistic missiles.
According to Military Watch magazine, Trump is reviewing delivery of the first stealth cruise missile (AGM-158 JASSM) to the Ukrainian air force with a range of 370k in the first version which will be carried and launched by F-16 fleet of the Ukrainian air force.
The American media have reported that Ukraine would probably receive Tomahawk long-range missiles, too.
Donald Trump, standing by NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, in the White House on Monday, threatening to impose tough sanctions on Russia, said that he is disappointed with Russia and its president. He said, "If Moscow and Washington do not reach an agreement on settlement of Ukrainian issue within 50 days, the United States will enforce nearly %100 customs tariff on Russia and its trade partners."
Trump also announced his decision to send arms and equipment to Kiev if Europe and NATO would pay the price of this logistics. He added, "Today we have agreed that we will send them (NATO) weapons and they will pay the price. The US will not pay any money. We do not buy it, but we just make it and they will pay the price."
According to the German daily Spiegel, many NATO member states will rapidly deliver their American weapons to Ukraine from their arsenals; and will purchase again from the US to complete their arsenals. Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Britain, the Netherlands and Canada will join the first wave of weapons delivery. If this news is confirmed, equipping Ukraine with American weapons will be considered as these countries' direct aid to Kiev and this will be an escape way for the US in the face of the Russian protest against equipping Ukraine with American arms.
This new arms agreement is not only considered a turning point in military aid to Ukraine, but also can change the equation of power significantly in the Russian war with Ukraine. Participation of several European countries in financial maintenance and sending sophisticated weapons, including Patriot and Tomahawk, indicates the West's resolve to bolster Ukrainian defense capability against the Russian threats and also increase of trans-Atlantic coordination vis-à-vis security crises.
According to the personal messages of Trump and Zelensky which has been released by media, the US has shown greenlight [to Kiev] for attacking Moscow with long-range weapons. Trump has directly asked Zelensky to hit Moscow with the long-range missiles. According to Financial Times, Trump, who used to depict himself as an "anti-war" candidate and promised to end Ukraine war very soon, now appears as the persuader of direct attack on a nuclear-armed capital. This fundamental change either indicates a change in approach or is part of the tactic of pressures for negotiation from the position of power.
Dmitry Peskov, Spokesman of Kremlin, said on Tuesday that Trump's remarks about imposition of %100 tariffs on Russia and its allies is serious and mentioned Moscow's stance towards Washington Post's quotation of Trump on Ukraine's likely attack against Moscow and Saint Peters Burg.
Peskov said, "Stating such remarks and saying that Kiev can hit the Russian capital is not a new thing; these reports are usually fake. But, sometimes there are intelligence leakage including by newspapers which we used to consider as valid. Kremlin spokesperson added, "The US decision to maintain NATO and EU with arms needed by Ukraine is not taken as a sign of peace but an indicative of continuation of war."
It seems that Trump pursues two goals from the new arms policy towards Ukraine. First, as Trump himself had stressed several times, the US is not intent to deliver freely the weapons needed by Kiev, especially air defense systems and offensive long-range missiles; thus, imposing the price on Europe and NATO, the way is paved for sending them to Ukraine.
Second, Trump has badly failed in materializing his promise to end the Ukrainian war overnight. Therefore, resorting to rhetorical assault on the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and calling him a warmonger, he has authorized Kiev to attack deep inside the Russian soil with American missiles. Thus, he wants to undermine the Russian military power and show Putin that his obstinacy about ceasefire can cost dearly for Russia in the Ukrainian war. Therefore, [the US thinks that] this will force Moscow to give in to ceasefire and starting of peace talks very soon.
However, Russia's goal is to stabilize territorial achievements in Ukraine while Kiev and its Western supporters capitulate to it. But, as he has not been successful so far, he continues military pressure to force Zelensky to accept peace with present conditions.
Nevertheless, Europe has been resolved to support Ukraine and the US is also hell-bent on delivering new Patriot systems and even AGM-158 JASSM missiles with 370k range and newer types of missiles with 1000k range to Ukraine. This is a greenlight to Kiev to strike deep into the Russian soil and will be the start of the new phase of Russian war with Ukraine.
RM/ME
