Pentagon Reiterates: No Arms to Ukraine

Top General to Visit Ukraine, But New Arms Pact Unlikely

US General Philip Breedlove, the top NATO military commander in Europe, is heading to Ukraine this week for meetings with top political and military leaders to discuss “support” for the war against the eastern rebels.

While this inevitably raised speculation that Ukraine will be making yet another push to secure US military aid, the Pentagon insists that they have not changed their decision to oppose sending arms to the country’s military.

The US unveiled a new military aid package less than a week ago, and that included armored Humvees and other equipment, but no weapons or ammunition.

Obama aide Tony Blinken explained that while the US could start throwing weapons at Ukraine to try to turn the stalemated civil war decisively against the ethnic Russian rebels, they couldn’t possibly send enough for the Ukrainian military to defeat Russia in the protracted war. That is, of course, what Ukrainian officials have been talking up for months.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.