Ukraine war: US now ‘more open’ to helping Ukrainians target Crimea

The USA have begun to change their stance on the deployment of its weapons systems Ukraine that could help her to aimed at the Crimean peninsulaaccording to a publication by New York Times. Until recently the government of the American president Joe Biden was not in favor of such a move, because of the reaction it might provoke from the Russia.

However, after months of discussions with Ukrainian officials, the report says the US government now sees that Kyiv may need more force to strike Russian military bases in the region from which deadly missile attacks are launched. And this despite the fact that such a strategy would increase the risk of escalation of tension, as US officials argued in the same medium.

The Biden administration officially considers Crimea to belong to Ukraine. “The areas occupied by the Russians remain Ukrainian territory,” White House spokesman John Kirby said recently, adding: “Ukrainians have every right to defend themselves and their state within their internationally recognized borders.”.

Now, the high-ranking echelons of the White House estimate, the report states, that if Ukraine shows Russia that it can challenge its control of Crimea, then this could prove to be an advantage in potential future negotiations.

The US will not send Abrams tanks immediately

The US, however, is not ready to supply Ukraine with their most advanced heavy tanks, the Abramsa senior Pentagon official said yesterday Wednesday (18/1), justifying this refusal citing maintenance and training issues and not fears of escalating Russian reactions.

Kyiv has been demanding in recent weeks from Western governments to send modern tanks to repel the Russian invasion. However, so far its allies have committed to sending mainly light armored fighting vehicles or personnel carriers.

“I don’t think we’re there yet”said the US Pentagon’s third-in-command Colin Kall, when asked during a press conference about the possibility of sending Abrams tanks to Kyiv, after London’s decision to make Britain the first country to send to Ukraine was formalized over the weekend. Challenger 2 heavy tanks.

“The Abrams is a highly complex weapon system. It is expensive, requires difficult training, has a jet engine. I believe it consumes 11 liters of kerosene per kilometer”said Mr. Cal, the US undersecretary of defense for strategy.

“It’s not the easiest system to maintain either”he added, without, however, ruling out the possibility that the American position will change in the future.

He also pointed out that US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has so far carefully avoided sending the Ukrainians weapons that “they won’t be able to repair, they won’t be able to maintain and they won’t be able to have in the long term because that would not benefit anyone”.

According to reports in the American and German media, Germany will not agree to the delivery of Leopard 2 heavy tanks to the Ukrainian army unless the US makes a similar move with its Abrams.

Zelensky: “We will endure” he said as he called for quick decisions on providing military aid to his country

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for “speed” in decision-making on aid to his country.

“Tyrannies advance faster than democracies,” he said in his address, via video link, to the World Economic Forum in Davos. “The mobilization of the world must happen faster than the next military mobilization of our common enemy,” he insisted..

“It took Russia less than a second to start the war. It took the world days to react, (imposing) the first sanctions,” he commented, also recalling that in the past some were “hesitating” to react to Moscow’s “ruthless” actions, such as the annexation of Crimea.

In recent days, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been under pressure to soon approve the delivery of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Sending German-made war material requires Berlin’s green light, and the leaders of several European countries on Tuesday called on Scholz to make a quick decision.

At the start of his speech in Davos, Zelensky also called for a minute’s silence in memory of the victims of this morning’s helicopter crash near Kyiv. Among the dead were the entire leadership of the Ministry of the Interior and Minister Denis Monastirsky. The Ukrainian president also said, when asked about it, that he is not worried about his own personal safety.

In his nightly speech, again, he mentioned that Canada would send significant military aid and noted that “we will endure”while he explained that the fighting on the eastern front continues and that the forces of Ukraine are enduring and resisting.