Five questions about U.S. help for Ukraine

President Biden has made it official: Ukraine will be getting a new $700 million wave of military aid, including the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) that will expand its ability to strike Russian positions more accurately and from much farther away.
To limit the risk of escalation — well, ok, further escalation, since Russia is hopping mad about the HIMARS — the United States has secured promises from Ukraine not to use the system to strike targets on Russian soil.

Tucked away in a White House telephone briefing held Tuesday night “on background” (one in which the officials’ names are known to the reporters but the information can only be attributed anonymously) was a very interesting question. One which — spoiler — didn’t get an answer.

I’m using it as my first of five new questions about U.S. assistance for Ukraine.

ONE: Is this the first/only time Washington has imposed a restriction on how Kyiv’s forces may use a weapons system provided by the United States or its allies?
Take it away, “Senior Administration Official.”

“Beyond what I just described in terms of assurances that we got from Ukrainians, I’m not going to get into any further operational discussions that we’ve had with them about how they will or won’t use the systems they’re being provided.”

The reporter tried again.

“I’m not going to get into any other restrictions, assurances, or anything else that may or may not have been provided by the Ukrainians,” the official said.

That’s a really interesting question, one made even more interesting by this report from Mike Stone of Reuters on Wednesday: “The Biden administration plans to sell Ukraine four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be armed with Hellfire missiles for battlefield use against Russia, three people familiar with the situation said.”

R&I~Smit

Mariam

Article URL : https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/02/five-questions-about-us-help-ukraine/