The defense minister declined to describe the specific foreign military sales requests made but confirmed that a letter had been conveyed to the State Department. team will travel to Ukraine to assess its defense needs. Now, Russia is positioning attack helicopters and fighter jets near the border to complement its robust anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) systems in place in occupied Crimea.
In 2020, Russia’s rapidly expanding Black Sea navy fleet began incursions into Ukrainian territorial waters, and the United States provided Mark VI and Island-class patrol boats. provided high-tech communications equipment. Russia then intercepted sensitive military communications, and the U.S. response was to provide Javelin anti-tank missiles. capabilities.įirst, he said Russia posed a land threat with its tanks on the southeastern border in the Donbas region, where a low-intensity conflict continues with Russian-backed separatists. Reznikov said in his comments at the Ukrainian Embassy that more than $200 million in annual assistance from the United States has followed the same pattern: Russian aggression matched by U.S. “We are monitoring closely recent Russian military movements near your borders, and we’ve made clear our concerns about Russia’s destabilizing activities and our desire for more transparency.” A History of Support “Our support for Ukraine’s self-defense, sovereignty, and territorial integrity is unwavering,” Austin said. 18, Austin voiced his support to Ukraine, echoing a message President Joe Biden conveyed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during an August visit to Washington. The assistance includes tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, satellite imagery and analysis support, counter-battery radars, and night vision devices and thermal scopes, which are used by front-line troops defending against Russian-backed separatists and elite Russian sniper units.Īt the Pentagon on Nov. 19 that such a letter of intent had been received from Ukraine but provided a list of the $2.5 billion in training and equipment assistance provided to Ukraine since 2014. “Not only Secretary Austin would be deciding-it’s also a political decision,” he added.Ī State Department spokesperson declined to confirm to Air Force Magazine on Nov. The defense minister, nonetheless, acknowledged that arms sales require State Department and congressional approval. “I got a very strong position from Secretary Austin that they will be shoulder and shoulder with us, Ukraine,” Reznikov said in response to a question from Air Force Magazine. Congress and Defense Department have voiced their backing of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and that a DOD team will travel to Ukraine to assess the country’s needs. The need is an air defense and missile defense,” Reznikov said. “We have a well-developed and a powerful land force. It is estimated that Russia has amassed up to 90,000 troops on Ukraine’s eastern border near the Ukrainian capital. This time, Russia’s unexplained actions could spell imminent invasion, prompting Reznikov’s last-minute trip to Washington just a month after Austin visited Kyiv. 18 during yet another tense period in Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia. The new Ukrainian Defense Minister met with Austin for the first time at the Pentagon Nov. Russia also holds Ukraine’s energy security hostage with the recently completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline that will allow Russia to circumvent Ukraine and cut off gas access, if it chooses. Reznikov said Russia is using hybrid warfare, including helping Belarus push migrants across the European border, to destabilize the region and distract Eastern European NATO members Lithuania and Poland.
“We have to defend our air and sea,” the defense minister said at a press conference at the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, D.C. foreign military sales for its air and naval defenses. 19 that Ukraine requested additional U.S. Austin III promised his “unwavering” support to deter Russian aggression as border tension builds.
Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov said Defense Secretary Lloyd J.
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