– Ukraine is under serious pressure on the battlefield, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan continues at a press conference on Wednesday evening Norwegian time.
– Thus, Russia has been able to make further, tactical advances, he adds.
Now he promises to speed up arms support for the country, which President Joe Biden promised last night in connection with the passage of the large military support package in the Senate:
- The US has already sent long-range missiles to Ukraine, says Sullivan now.
- The US will also send more missiles.
– The US will continue to provide necessary resources to Ukraine, and has the opportunity to do so until 2024, assures the security adviser.
Has adopted Ukraine aid
Political tug of war
The United States has been the main military backer of Ukraine in the war against the Russian invasion, but the latest aid package of necessary supplies has been stuck in a political tug-of-war in Congress for months.
In other words, it may have had a lot to say that Ukraine – as Sullivan says – has had to ration weapons in recent months, and thus lost ground.
Former NATO official, now senior researcher at the Finnish Institute for International Policy (FIIA), Edward H. Christie, has previously explained it to Dagbladet as follows:
– This blockade has been going on for several months, which is a very long time in a high-intensity war that we have in Ukraine. Just imagine that the USA, in the middle of the Second World War, had suddenly said that “no, now we are not going to supplement Britain any more.” We’ve been doing it for a year now, but now we’re going to stop. Take a break. From this very moment.” Or imagine that this had happened in the First World War. It would have changed the outcome of the wars.
– You can really say that this costs lives every day, the expert told Dagbladet earlier in April.
Fears cynical Trump plan
He put much of the blame for the blockade on the speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, who holds the agenda-setting power.
He is a big supporter of former President Donald Trump, and was part of his defense team in the 2020 impeachment trial against him.
He appears to have aligned himself with Trump, who has signaled that he will not contribute to keeping the Ukraine war going, and thus refused to put the large support package forward for a vote, Christie explained.
But in the end he tabled it, and it was therefore voted through the night until today.
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– Absolutely crucial
After last night’s decision, Biden repeated his promise to give his formal endorsement as soon as possible. He promised to follow up by sending weapons already this week.
– I promise to sign the bill and speak to the American people as soon as I get the bill on my desk tomorrow, so we can start sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine this week, Biden said after the vote.
He said the approval of the proposal shows that the United States stands “steadfastly on the side of democracy and freedom, against tyranny and oppression.”
In response, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that long-range capabilities, artillery and air defense are “crucial for restoring peace faster”.
– I am grateful for the support from President Joe Biden and look forward to the decision being formally approved and to the next military aid package in line with the steadfastness I have seen in our negotiations, he said.
