Ukraina - USA pøser på med våpen - Washington Post

 

National Security

Pentagon looks to vastly expand weapons for Ukraine

Ukrainian officials also met recently with the maker of Reaper and Predator drones, a company official said

By Dan Lamothe

 and 

Karoun Demirjian

Yesterday at 5:59 p.m. EDT|Updated today at 8:34 p.m. EDT

A Ukrainian service member holds a Javelin missile system in the north Kyiv region of Ukraine last month. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

UPDATE

An earlier version of this article reported that Mi-17 helicopters could be among the new arms transfers slated for Ukraine. After it was published, a U.S. defense official said that had been ruled out. The article has been updated.

The Biden administration is poised to dramatically expand the scope of weapons it is providing Ukraine, U.S. officials said Tuesday, with the Pentagon looking to transfer armored Humvees and a range of other sophisticated equipment.

The new aid package could be worth $750 million, these people said. Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity because the transfer has not yet been finalized.

Preliminary plans circulating among government officials and lawmakers in Washington also included Mi-17 helicopters, howitzer cannons, coastal defense drones and protective suits to safeguard personnel in the event of a chemical, biological or nuclear attack, the officials said, though they cautioned that it was not immediately clear if all of those items would end up in the final aid package.

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby declined to comment. On Tuesday night, after this article was published, another U.S. defense official said the Russian-made helicopters would not be included.

Pentagon to provide Ukraine with drones, armored vehicles and machine guns

The prospective new delivery, first reported by Reuters, comes on top of the more than $2.4 billion in U.S. security assistance provided to Ukraine since President Biden took office last year, including $1.7 billion in aid since Russia launched its invasion Feb. 24.