WASHINGTON (Dispatches) -The United States and Western allies have pledged billions of dollars in weapons and hundreds of armored vehicles plus rockets and artillery shells to Ukraine, defying Moscow’s repeated warnings against supplying Kiev with heavy weaponry. .
The Kremlin said supplying tanks to Ukraine would not help and the West would regret its “delusion” that Kyiv could win on the battlefield.
The U.S. has announced a new package of arms and munitions for Ukraine worth $2.5 billion.
The package includes 59 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 90 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers, 53 mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles and 350 high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, the U.S. Defense Department said in a statement.
The 59 Bradleys included in the latest U.S. package come after a previous 50 announced earlier in January. The armored Bradley has a powerful gun and has been used by the U.S. Army to carry troops around battlefields since the mid-1980s.
The latest assistance also includes additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), eight Avenger air-defense systems, tens of thousands of artillery rounds and about 2,000 anti-armor rockets, the Defense Department said.
In total, the United States has committed more than $27.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the war began in February last year.
Germany also said it would need agreement from allies to give the green light for the delivery of German-made tanks to Ukraine, apparently dashing Kyiv’s hopes for a quick decision.
Defense ministers from NATO and other countries were meeting in Germany.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine’s backers needed to focus not only on sending new weapons, but supplying ammunition for older systems and helping maintain them.
The United States and Finland announced large new military aid packages before the gathering at Ramstein Air Base, where the focus was on whether Germany would allow countries in Europe that use its Leopard 2 tanks to re-export them to Ukraine.
German Defense Minister Pistorius said he could not say when there would be a decision on the tanks but that Germany was prepared to move fast if there was consensus among allies.
“All pros and cons must be weighed very carefully,” Pistorius said, adding that the issue had been discussed on Friday but no decision had been made.
Pistorius did not say which, if any, allies were not in agreement with supplying the tanks, or give details of what he saw as the pros and cons of such a policy.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government has appeared reluctant to authorize the re-export of the tanks for fear of provoking Russia. Some Western officials have also flagged the concern that Russia might capture advanced Western weaponry and steal its technology.