The exact quantities and types of weapons were not specified, but the Baltic countries arsenals include Javelin antitank missiles.
Le Monde with AFP
The United States has approved the requests of countries of the Baltic ship arms of American manufacturing to Ukraine, amid fears of a Russian invasion, said a US official, Thursday, January 20.
The United States “accelerate authorized transfers of US origin equipment from other allies,” said an official of the State Department from Berlin, where the head of US diplomacy, Tony Blinken, has started talks on Ukraine with Europeans. He added:
“The European allies have what they need to advance the safe further assistance [in] Ukraine in the days and weeks ahead.”
A source familiar permissions specified that the approval concerned the urgent demands of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The exact quantities and types of weapons were not specified, but the Baltic countries arsenals include Javelin antitank missiles.
“Discourage” Russia from attack
“We have decided to send arms and other aid [to Ukraine],” confirmed to Agence France-Presse the Minister of Defense of Lithuania Arvydas Anusauskas, that this approach aims to “deterring” Russia from attack. The minister also added:
“History shows us that making concessions to the aggressor eventually lead to a big war. We do not want this. Any country that defends itself should have the opportunity to do.”
Tens of thousands of Russian soldiers and tanks and artillery were deployed near the Ukrainian border since the end of last year, particularly concerning the three Baltic countries, also located in the immediate vicinity of Russia.
Since last year, the administration of President Joe Biden has approved sending 650 million of weapons to Ukraine, of which 200 million last month.
Kiev urges West to hand over additional defense weapons, in the peak of tensions with Moscow on suspicion of preparing an invasion of its neighbor. Britain said Monday it planned to send anti-tank weapons. Germany for its part, rejected the idea of supplying arms to Ukraine, saying it would only aggravate tensions.