The amount of security aid is $ 1 billion in one year. In 2018, the Trump administration validated the delivery of Javelin missiles.
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The United States has eyes – and satellites – riveted on the military situation in Ukraine. Since November, Joe Biden has clearly indicated, on many occasions, that the US military would not be directly involved in the fighting against Russia, under pain of escalation between nuclear powers with unpredictable consequences. But for all that, Washington does not stay inactive.
In a statement published on February 26, the Department of Defense confirmed the extension of the assistance effort to the Ukrainian forces. A $ 350 million envelope has been added, in order to deliver weapons of small caliber and ammunition, as well as protections. The total amount of security aid approved by Washington is therefore $ 1 billion in one year, including one third in anti-existing and anti-aircraft missiles. In recent weeks, US authorities have often emphasized the amount paid since 2014, to show the exceptional effort: $ 2.7 billion in eight years.
You have to resist the fascination of the numbers. The example of Afghanistan encourages to be wary of the display effect. Total military aid granted by the United States in Kabul was estimated at $ 73 billion between 2001 and 2020, an average of 3.8 billion per year. This has not prevented the accelerated rout from the Afghan forces in the face of the spread of the Taliban, in the summer of 2021. It is none the less true that the constant support since 2014 from the United States has a dimension as political as operational. It was perceived in Moscow as an additional illustration of the Western will to tear up Ukraine at its area of influence. “The United States remains committed to assisting Ukraine in promoting Euro-Atlantic aspirations in support of a safe, prosperous, democratic and free Ukraine,” writes the Office of Political and Military Affairs, on the website of the State Department, as of January 20th.
Very light deliveries
It is impossible to detail the role played by US support in the fierce resistance of Ukrainians against the Russian offensive, particularly with regard to technical intelligence, to slow down as much as possible. Especially since other factors are decisive: the unwanted and sacrificial mobilization of civilians, inconsistencies and questions about the morale of Russian troops … But the contrast with the turnover observed in 2014 jumps to the eyes.
At the dawn of this fateful year, eight years ago, the Ukrainian army vivothered, based on its Soviet heritage. His troops had a few thousand men, she was underfunded, her inadequate organization. The annexation of Crimea by Russia and its destabilization of Donbass, through Moscow’s hand separatists, then decimated this Ukrainian army. This lost 70% of its fleet and much of its air capabilities. It was necessary to rebuild, modernize, train. For this, Ukraine turned to NATO and the United States.
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