The atrocities against civilians attributed to Russian soldiers in the kyiv region and the ongoing military redeployment around the Donbass are prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to demand additional arms deliveries from the West. Their red line, however, has not moved: above all not to appear as co-belligerents against Russia, at a time when the conflict is entering a new phase, with no further hope of a ceasefire.
On Tuesday April 5, the United States nevertheless announced that it would release up to 100 million dollars in order to urgently provide the Ukrainians with new Javelin anti-tank systems, “so effectively used to defend their country”, pointed out the Pentagon. “The time is not for complacency”, had declared, the day before, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser. But this massive support in terms of arms deliveries is partly done in the shadows. While some details may have leaked out on transfers of so-called “defensive” weapons, Mr. Sullivan pleaded confidentiality with regard to other very sensitive systems, for operational and political reasons. We also do not know the degree of integration of American intelligence – in particular by satellite means – in Ukrainian military actions, making it possible to determine the Russian targets to aim for.
The most mobilized Baltic countries
The White House thus refuses to confirm the information of the New York Times about tanks. Friday 1er April, the daily explained that the Biden administration had accepted the principle of transferring Soviet-made tanks, held by allied countries. But neither their number nor the timetable for their delivery were specified. Asked Sunday on CNN, the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, did not recognize such a green light. He recalled that his country had already granted 2.3 billion dollars (2.1 billion euros) in military aid to Ukraine, including 1.6 billion during the first month of war. Only the Czech Republic confirmed, on Tuesday, the departure, by train, of a convoy of tanks of Soviet origin, in agreement with the NATO allies.
The Baltic States remain the most mobilized, but with limited resources. The head of the Estonian Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Martin Herem, said on Sunday April 3 that a large number of heavier weapons were needed, but that Estonia was unable to provide them. “Our concrete assistance depends more on the production capacity and the possibility of delivering this equipment as soon as possible than on the sum we are ready to allocate”, for his part, declared, on Wednesday April 6, the Lithuanian President, Gitanas Nauseda. As for Latvia, it too urges NATO members to expand their military assistance.
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