CNN: Ukrainian President Zelensky asked Biden for military assistance and invited him to Kiev
Vladimir Zelensky and Joe Biden. Photo: Pool via CNP / Globallookpress.com
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, during a telephone conversation with US leader Joe Biden, asked the United States for additional military and financial support, CNN reports, citing a senior Ukrainian official.
Support for Ukraine
The Ukrainian politician invited his colleague to visit Kiev, but there has been no positive response from the White House yet. Biden's trip to Ukraine is unlikely, according to US officials.
According to the channel's source, Zelensky offered Biden “concrete ideas to reduce the Russian threat to Ukraine.” He urged Washington to provide more military support to Kiev, including the supply of more modern weapons.
Zelenskiy used Sunday's call to offer what the official called “concrete ideas to reduce the Russian threat to Ukraine”
CNN source
It was also about receiving a “significant financial package” in the form of assistance for Ukraine. Zelensky is sure that the strong support of Kiev with money will show Russian President Vladimir Putin: “The West supports Ukraine, and escalation will not bring any results.”
The leaders of the two states also touched upon the topic of security and sanctions against Moscow. Biden promised Zelensky a strong response to “any further Russian aggression against Ukraine.” The telephone conversation lasted less than an hour.
Supply of arms
On January 23, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that Kiev had received more than 80 tons of weapons from the United States as military aid. The Ukrainian military was handed over M141 Bunker Defeat Munition or SMAW-D disposable hand grenade launchers. In addition, an American aircraft delivered a batch of Javelin man-portable anti-tank missile systems to Ukraine.
More than 80 tons of weapons to strengthen the defense of Ukraine from our friends from the USA! And this is not the end
Oleksiy Reznikov Head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
A day earlier, on January 22, the first batch of ammunition from the United States arrived in Ukraine, the US Embassy in Kiev reported. The country received about 200,000 pounds (over 90,000 kilograms) of lethal weapons, including ammunition.
This aid, plus more than $2.7 billion in aid to Kiev since 2014, demonstrates the United States' strong commitment to strengthening Ukraine's defenses against the backdrop of growing Russian aggression.
US Embassy in Kiev
At the same time, the United States was reproached in Ukraine for “sloppy” and outdated weapons. Verkhovna Rada deputy from the Opposition Platform – For Life party Valery Gnatenko specified that the weapons supplied from the United States are “sucks of the 80s.”
Secret help
In December 2021, it became known that the United States secretly approved the allocation of additional military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $200 million. Washington intends to transfer small arms, ammunition, medical equipment and radar surveillance to Kiev. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced the arrival of 45 aircraft with American weapons.
US wants to allocate $200 million in additional assistance to Ukraine in December 2021
Other states have also offered military assistance to Ukraine. For example, the UK will supply Kiev with light anti-tank defensive weapons. Estonia will transfer Javelin complexes.
Moscow's position
Russia has repeatedly called on NATO to stop deliveries of weapons to Ukraine. According to the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov, relations between Moscow and the North Atlantic Alliance have reached a “red line” due to the gradual invasion of the West into Ukraine. He added that this state of affairs is a real threat to stability and security in Europe, and Moscow “cannot tolerate this situation any longer.” As specified in the Kremlin, NATO expansion is a matter of life and death for Moscow.
We are witnessing a gradual NATO invasion of the territory of Ukraine with its infrastructure, its instructors, stocks of defensive and offensive weapons, training of the Ukrainian military, and the like.
Dmitry PeskovPress Secretary of the President of Russia
Since the fall of 2021, Western countries and Kiev have been accusing Moscow of preparing an invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly denied such statements, calling them unfounded.
