Ignoring warnings from Russia, the US and its NATO allies continue to escalate the military assistance they are providing to Ukraine.
The Pentagon said Tuesday that Ukraine has received fighter jets and aircraft parts but declined to say which country they came from. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Ukrainian forces “right now have available to them more fixed-wing fighter aircraft than they did two weeks ago.”
The fighter jets likely came from a NATO member that was formerly a Soviet state, as Ukraine’s air force is only trained to use older Russian-made aircraft. Earlier in the war, the US was in talks with Poland on transferring Warsaw’s MiG-29 jets to Ukraine, but the Pentagon backed out of the plan, warning Moscow would view such assistance as escalatory.
But now, it appears whatever risks the Pentagon assessed came with sending warplanes to Ukraine are worth taking. Russia formally told the US in a diplomatic letter last week to stop arming Ukraine, but the warning was shrugged off, and the US and NATO have since moved to send heavier weapons into Ukraine.
For the first time, the US has sent howitzers to Ukraine, along with 40,000 rounds of artillery as part of a massive $800 million weapons package. In another escalation of assistance, a senior Pentagon official told reporters Wednesday that the US has begun training Ukrainian forces on how to use the howitzers in an undisclosed location.
The official wouldn’t say where the training was taking place. “It has begun in the country outside Ukraine. I am not going to tell you — be able to detail where this is happening, but it has happened. And we expect the training to last for about a week. And this is training the trainers. It’s a smallish number of Ukrainians, a little bit more than 50,” the official said.
The Times recently reported that British Special Air Service (SAS) troops are training Ukrainian forces on how to use anti-tank weapons provided by London on Ukrainian territory. The SAS mission makes the UK the first known NATO member to have a troop presence inside Ukraine since the Russian invasion.
US weapons makers stand to see a long-term benefit from the war in Ukraine and the Western campaign to pour weapons into the country. According to a report from Forbes, Ukraine is in talks with US arms maker General Atomics to receive MQ-9 Reaper drones.
“With support from the US government, those aircraft could be in the hands of Ukrainian military pilots in a matter of days,” said General Atomics spokesman C. Mark Brinkle. The MQ-9s are worth about $32 million each, and the tab is expected to be picked up by the US government.
Since Russia invaded on February 24, the US pledged about $2.6 billion in military aid. According to media reports, President Biden is preparing to announce yet another weapons package for Ukraine that will be similar in size to the $800 million one that was announced last week.
Imagine, even per John Lennon, if the US gov’t spent $32M on something NOT destructive. One single solitary reaper drone. $32M. Criminal use of the American people’s money. Criminally used on other countries for criminal ends.
Defending your country against invaders who are destroying your cities killing and raping your people is criminal in your book?
The war with Ukraine could have been prevented . NATO expansionism and a guarantee from Brussels and Washington to exclude Ukraine from an alliance it was NEVER going to be allowed to join would have helped.
Addressing the issue of far right extremists in Ukraine the Azov brigade would have been critical in preserving peace.
Now weapons manufacturers smile with glee they profit from another avoidable war.
Yes, the war could have been prevented. Russia should’ve kept his Army out of Ukraine. Ukraine joining NATO and the 10-20% of members of Azov being Neo Nazis is all cheap excuses. Russia is there only to take land from Ukraine for profit and more power.
Right. And the US would have accepted the Warsaw Pact’s expansion to our borders. They would have accepted a coup of a bordering country sponsored by a foreign country who has been provoking them for 30 years running. They would have accepted war games on those same borders. And lastly, they would have accepted missiles minutes from Washington. And don’t tell me about whataboutism because it fits in this case since the one provoking all of this is the US.
Our reaction to missiles placed on Cuba is evidence of the hypocrisy being shown by us. We nearly came to a nuclear war over that. Yet here we are, with a country that feels like a sitting duck, taking an action to defend itself, bad as the reaction may be, but an action designed to say “enough”. Clinton signed so may bad pieces of legislation, but the actions he took to begin the march East by gathering up former Soviet block countries into NATO, actions that we agreed not to do, tops them all.
That’s your opinion. Again, it is Russia the one inside Ukraine taking land away from them.
Wrong…Russia is keeping the NATO terror machine from setting up camp near its borders. If Russia wanted Ukraine it would already have fallen..and deservingly so.
“Russia is keeping the NATO terror machine from setting up camp near its borders. ”
By guaranteeing that Ukraine will become a de facto NATO member and scaring Finland and Sweden into becoming de jure NATO members? Sounds like the Underpants Gnome Grand Strategy:
STEP ONE: INVADE UKRAINE
STEP TWO: ???????
STEP THREE: PROFIT!
Scared Finland and Sweden? Nonsense.
Sweden and Finland are part of the EU. Essentially they are already part of NATO.
Finland becoming a de jure member of NATO will instantly add more than 800 miles of Russian border with NATO forces right on that border 24/7/365. Which is exactly the complaint the Russians the Russians had with prospective Ukraine membership in NATO.
Sweden become a de jure member of NATO will instantly make it even easier for NATO naval forces to deny Russian naval forces access to the Atlantic via the Baltic in the event of conflict.
That’s what Russia’s giving up militarily by invading Ukraine, even if it “wins.”
You’re comparing the Finnish border with the Ukrainian border? Really? One has millions of Russian speaking people who culturally identify with Russia, one doesn’t.
While I hadn’t thought about that, you seem to be making my point for me. He was willing to go to war over some friendly border. Now he’s getting a bunch more unfriendly border for his trouble.
He is getting several millions more people that support Russia and possibly a buffer state.
The Kiev regime was preparing to attack Lugansk and Donask. A hostile border would have been the result as the NATO trained and armed forces would have overwhelmed the separatists in the Donbas
So, I don’t see any point you claim to be making that there would have been a friendly border instead of a unfriendly border? How so?
As far as unfriendly nations? That’s the point. NATO is unfriendly to Russia. Putin isn’t changing anything. It’s just in the open now. But the hostility has been going on for decades. These aren’t the first sanctions. Nor are the disrespectful media attacks on Russia new. The West could have had a partner in Russia. Instead they chose conflict.
“So, I don’t see any point you claim to be making that there would have been a friendly border instead of a unfriendly border? How so?”
As you just said, the Ukraine-Russia border area is inhabited by people who speak Russian, are friendly to Russia, and even consider themselves Russian. In other words, a difficult place to base or launch attacks against Russia from.
If he’s successful in firmly removing LPR/DPR from Ukrainian control, they might serve as buffer states. Or they might seek, and get, annexation to Russia itself. If the latter, then instead of having a nice Russia-friendly/Russian-speaking buffer between himself and Russian-unfriendly Ukraine he’s right up against them. In addition to having more than 800 miles of brand new NATO border with Finland.
How did you miss the part that the US backed Kiev regime was set to attack the Donask and Lugansk.
Your reply makes no sense whatever. Your non sequitur claim that the 800 miles of the already de facto NATO Finland also makes no sense.
Fact: these countries are already hostile to Russia. They are already affiliated with NATO. Did you miss the Enhanced Opportunity Partners status of Sweden and Finland also? Are you aware of what that 800 mile border with Russia is geographically as opposed to the border with Ukraine? A claim of equivalence is absurd.
“How did you miss the part that the US backed Kiev regime was set to attack the Donask and Lugansk.”
I didn’t “miss” that. I even suspect it might be true.
And if Putin had defended them from that attack, or even if he had been capable (if that’s what he was attempting) of going on the offensive and wrapping up a “security operation” in LPR/DPR/Azov coast in a timely manner a la Georgia, he might not have ended up with official NATO bases on his border with Finland and no chance of Atlantic access via the Baltic in the event of open war with NATO.
But what happened happened.
Who is “them”? The land belongs to the people, not to the US puppet regime in Kiev.
Yes, ignore Russia looking at the encirclement that has taken place for 30 years. It makes perfect sense to ignore the obvious: we have been at war with Russia since the Clinton administration.
Encirclement? Have you seen a map? Russia is the biggest country in the world taking land from smaller countries. I don’t see Russian being encircled by anyone.
What countries has Russia taken land from prior to the U. S. staged coup in Kiev in 2014?
And sending more weapons is going to end that? You can’t seem to get it in your head that Russia sees this as a war they CAN’T lose and you just keep wanting more weaponry to be poured into Ukraine which will only lead to more deaths. Russia’s concerns are legitimate and they aren’t going away. Period.
Austin is on record as saying the war will continue for “years”.
Who, oh yea the idiot who can’t speak English, Lloyd J Austin the Turd!
Comparing Austin to a turd is insulting to the turd.
Well tough, immovable object and irresistible force lets see who breaks. The longer Russia stays the more they bleed and the weaker they become a result that I find pleasing. They are outnumbered 20 million to 200k as the great philosopher stated, ” a man has got to know his limitations”
I seem to remember that when the Soviet Union gave up the ghost on Communism and liberated the Eastern Bloc countries our pundits and leaders crowed about how we broke the Soviets by forcing them to spend, spend, spend on their military capabilities thus crippling their economy. It could be that what goes around comes around.
I rather doubt it, we are spending $3 billion one part in 200 of our defense budget and at the end of it one of our big adversaries is decimated. After that we should be able to cut the defense budget quite a bit ( I know we won’t) . As to loss of US lives so far zero or maybe a few eager volunteers, meanwhile the Russian army is getting gutted. In the end the Russians have stupidly picked a fight with the combined economies of the EU and the USA roughly 50 trillion dollar GDP and 600 million population versus 150 million population and a GDP of 1.5 trillion. The conclusion is forgone they get to chose how much they bleed and that is about it.
I especially like the proposal to steal all their $ and use it to rebuild the Ukraine.
Pooty was sitting at a very small table today with his defense minister what happened to the big table? Did they need the wood for coffins?
Does it occur to you that the theft of Russian monetary reserves means that nations are going to distrust the international banking system dominated by the US?
Yes it does, that is a very reasonable argument against that action. On the other hand it would be a deep and very complete ratfucking of Russia that would have a lot of short term satisfaction. Russia has to come to understand where it fits into the world, a gas station with nuclear weapons more or less summed it up.
Uh huh. Have you calculated the economic damage to the Western nations your satisfaction is going to cost? Russian reserves stolen by the international banking cartel cover less than two months of the economic damage self inflicted by sanctions.
Have you considered what happens when the Russians defeat the trapped AFU in Donbas? Another lost war by the US and allies.
Do you understand how vulnerable US carrier battle groups are to Russian hypersonic missiles should the West push Putin?
Have you factored in how China benefits by the West’s poor strategy in this disaster?
Have you considered the political instability engendered by likely inflationary recessions? Hungry people are angry people.
No…The DC deep state neo-cons and their neo-liberal brethren have screwed the pooch once again.
Somehow I am not worried. The pride of the black sea fleet taken out by a sailor with a cigarette. Potemkin military it would seem. The US generals might steal 60 billion a year, but that leaves 740 billion for weapons and training. The Russian generals not to be outdone also steal 60 billion a year, unfortunately that leaves zero left over for weapons and training.
Nice satire, but the EU and US are perpetual losers who could not win on any front. Russia is smart, and far more adept in military matters than the laughable USA
Ah yes, like storing tons and tons of poorly protected rocket fuel on the decks of their cruisers. Very impressive indeed. Couple of more fires today of military institutions deep in Russia, what bad luck.
Anyway you don’t really have to worry about EU and NATO soldiers, it is the Ukrainians that are your problem for the foreseeable future.
Fools following a man whose main credit is playing a piano with his penis. That man is a fool for wanting to be elected. Now, he is a hostage of the NAZIs and the U.S. of A. We have wanted this war since the Clinton administration. Each president since Clinton has displayed their own brand of stupidity. And so, here we are. Woody Allen penned something that is appropriate. It goes something like this: we have reached the point were we have to make a decision to 1) remain with hopelessness and despair, or 2) extinction. May we make the correct decision.
So another Russian threat of global nuclear war? What upside do you idiots see? Your play now is to try to survive as a nation. The US and NATO support ends at the Russian border.
Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam…shall we go on thou hypocrite…
I was against all that so no hypocrisy here. I think countries should stay inside their own borders. That includes the USA.
Right. Only a government has the right to suppress the human rights of it’s people and wholesale murder them. Which is exactly what the criminal regime in Kiev did. And which the criminals in DC happily supported.
You believe that a government owns its people. I believe that people have the right to dissolve political bonds. You know, the whole Declaration of Independence thing. You might want to read it. Or not since you don’t believe in such things as consent of the governed.
The people of Donbas and Crimea do not consent to be ruled by the US puppet regime in Kiev.
The Donbas is an internal matter for Ukraine, Russia is making it worse by flooding in weapons and soldier so this present war really started softly in in 2014. Now however everybody has noticed and it is time to finish it by pushing Russia back to the treaty borders.
The West didn’t’ squawk too much when Grozny was reduced to rubble, internal Russian matter. See a lot changes at the international border.
Think about Putin then, he spends money on his military despite the fact that many russians are starving. That’s really horrible!
As even the NYT has admitted by now, as much as half of it is set aside for the black market and will come back to bite western arse really soon, ukies like Russians prefer the more reliable soviet and Russian arms before anything else.
The War Party in Washington wants the conflict to escalate and more Ukrainians to suffer. The War Party refuses to support UNSC 2202 which is the path for peace.
Why are you so set on getting Russian boys killed? The way to minimize suffering is for the Russians to return to their treaty border of 1999
What treaty border? Even if one can construe anything as a “treaty”, it was made null and void in 2014 when Ukraine declared the revolution of “Dignity” — and revoked many treaties with Russia. Revolutikn by definition is a legal discontinuity. Ukraine-Russian borders never really existed, and in 2014, whatever Soviet internal state lines existed — evaporated.
Because of the behaviour of Kyiv (ruled actually from Lviv) — soft borders are no longer acceptable to Russia.
We have to get out of wishful thinking, believing in treaties that were never ratified by any parties — and then willfully ignore facts on the ground.
So, facts in the ground have bern already established. Russia is already defining hard borders, and drew the most critical ones in Phase One.
We are still scratching heads over Kyiv — and did not notiice that Russia took over Sea if Azov coast, with sufficient deprh to avoid any threat of Ukranian forces breaking through.
What remains in Azovstal is a police operation.
Azov Battalion remnants are without ammunition or food,
And Russia took over Kherson region, securing Crimean peninsula, and unblicking water sources.
By cintrolling Azov, Kerch Straits are no longer in danger from potentialy dangerous cargoes going underneath the bridge, and Rusdia has now connection accros Donbas region, Sea of Azov region and Kherson — direct land link to Crimea.
From now on — three other targets remain. One is incorporating majority Russian regions into Donbas, cutting off Odessa region from the West Ukraine, and reducing the confluct to the geographically, ideologically and politically — the whole conflict to Lviv role un Ukraine,
Denazification cannot be completed until Lviv control over Kyiv ends.
Well if we decide that might makes right then prepare for new facts on the ground.
Might makes right has been our policy since 1898 … where you been?
US imperialism didn’t start in 1898 … that’s just when they began needing a huge navy to expand overseas
🙂 … I was debating whether to go with 1945, 1898, or 1845 even (Mexican War) … I think 1898 and the Spanish War was our big splash overseas, though, so that’s as good a date as any?
“Manifest Destiny ” was coined in 1843. It simply gave term to a prevalent US cultural norm. Like a 2 year old, “if I can see it, it’s mine”
Glued to our MSM.
And, with the destruction of AZOV, the international rag-bag homicidal maniac militia created by the US, UK, Canada, and France, the spine of NATO resistance, it may well happen the Ukraine Army will once again throw off their uniforms and evaporate, … even mostly defecting to the the Russian side, just like after “Maiden”. Since Nam and as recently as Afghanistan such has been a signal trademark of Washington colonial war-making.
You mean the borders set up by Lenin, Stalin and Khrushchev?
There was a treaty signed at the breakup of the USSR defining the border of Ukraine and Russia. Russia is in violation of that treaty.
Today, three sites with the largest concentration of weapons being stored — was destroyed. The sites were supposed to be secret, as civilian transport was used to bring in thevweapkns.
That sounds like Russia State TV.
It sounds like truth…not your petty MSNBC and company.
Keep pouring petrol on the fire, it must never go out, the military industrial complex is built from the perpetual flame.
Doesn’t matter what Biden spends of your taxpayer money. Won’t change the outcome.
And more weapon targets for Russia to destroy giving US no chance to train Ukrainian army how to use them…!
The USA is a paper tiger, and will lose once again with regards to Russia. The main problem with US armchair cowboys is that NATO and the US have no strategy, and are up against a far smarter and superior military power..a power unlike the US that does not expose itself 24/7 and lose war’s. All of of that tax payer money wasted on a useless country highjacked by Neo Nazis….Russia will win..period. Sleep well
humanity is self destructive.
Is Sweden supplying Ukraine with prohibited weapons of war?
https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/opinion/is-sweden-supplying-ukraine-with-prohibited-weapons-of-war