US Ready to Expand Arms Supplies to Ukraine

US eager to bolster Ukraine's navy, air defense

Officials familiar with the situation say that the US is eager to increase its arms supplies to Ukraine, expanding on the first supply of lethal arms back in April. This is intended to be done to support further moves against the eastern rebels.

Congress has been generally supportive of escalating the lethal aid. This is because Ukraine has been hyping the military aid received as eventually about fighting Russia, and that seems to be able to secure endless Congressional funding for most anything military-related.

Worryingly, the new round of aid is expected to include not just anti-tank missiles and other relatively short range arms, but things like anti-aircraft weapons and naval weaponry. Ukraine, and US military analysts, are arguing this would be more impactful.

Which is true, but also is potentially dangerous, as Ukraine’s government has made no bones about envisioning their nation being the start of World War 3 against Russia, and the US providing arms that are liable to be used against Russian military targets would be risky indeed.

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.