U.S 'Contingency plan' stand-by if Russia attacks Ukraine

A Ukrainian soldier holds a U.S.-supplied Javelin anti-tank missile during a military exercise at near Rivne on May 26. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

In case of further Russian military incursions into Ukraine, the White House has announced, the US has readied contingency military aid.

This week Politico and The Washington Post reported that the Ukrainian military support package worth tens of millions of dollars including lethal weapons was set up by the Administration of President Joe Biden.

In reaction to the accumulation of Russian troops and military hardware near the frontiers of Ukraine in spring, the prospective package, to include weaponry and more anti-tank missiles, was drawn up.

The military drills in Washington and European capitals were appalled by Moscow's plans at a time when Kyiv and the Kremlin-supported separatists were increasingly struggling in eastern Ukraine.

The US media claimed temporarily that Russia stopped the proposal when in April Russia announced it wanted to reduce the number of the 100,000 soldiers it moved close to the border.

Despite the announcement of evacuation, US and Ukrainian officials warn that Russia left some military hardware, which could be used to mobilize quickly in the case of an escalation.

For Moscow, the remaining forces are established later this year for military exercises, including armored units and cocket systems.

Since 2014, when Russia forced the Ukrainian Crimean Peninsula and backed up separatists in the east to launch a war that killed more than 13,000 people, the U.S. has supplied more than 2.5 billion dollars for Ukraine in security aid.

The Pentagon announced a 150 million dollar "defensive lethal aid" package to Ukraine earlier this month, including counter-artillery radars, communications, and electronic warfare, and counter-drone weapons.

Another $125 million, including additional armed Mark VI patrol boats, was announced in March by the Pentagon.

The aid comes from money previously undertaken by Congress for the fiscal year ending in September in the U.S. government.

"The argument that we have kept Ukraine from providing security support is absurd. We gave a 150 million-dollar security package, including deadly support, just last week, in the run-up to the US-Russia summit "In her declaration, Psaki stated.

"It is also in case of a further Russian intervention into Ukraine that we have prepared contingency money," she added. "We will stand firmly in favor of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity," President Biden told President Vladimir Putin.

He says he seeks a "solid and predictable" relationship with Russia, a message he tried to stir up this week prior to a summit with Putin where the two leaders discussed broad themes from cyber-attacks and weapons control to the Ukraine crisis.

Publish : 2021-06-19 13:28:00

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