The Usa will send helmets, medical supplies and other non-lethal military aid to Ukraine amid fears of another Russian incursion there, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Thursday.
Hagel said he had informed Kiev that President Barack Obama “has approved additional non-lethal military assistance for health and welfare items and other supplies.”
The aid includes medical supplies, helmets, sleeping mats and water purification units for Ukrainian troops, in addition to shelters, small power generators and hand fuel pumps for Ukraine’s border security force.
But it doesn’t seem to contain any combat equipment, similar to bulletproof vests or night-vision goggles.
Washington had sent some 300,000 food rations to Kiev in late March.
“The U . s . continues to face with Ukraine,” Hagel told reporters during a joint press conference with Poland’s visiting Defense Minister Tomasz Siemoniak.
The aid makes up portion of an extended wish list of things sought by Kiev over the last several weeks, as its ill-equipped forces face a professional-Russian uprising within the east, and the threat of Moscow annexing another huge chunk of its territory after the seizure of Crimea last month.
“The Us of a will continue to check additional support that we will provide to Ukraine,” Hagel said.
Several US lawmakers — most notably veteran Republican Senator John McCain — have issued scathing denunciations of the West’s tepid response to the crisis.
McCain, who lost the White House election to Obama in 2008, decried steps taken by the usa and European Union so far as “almost laughable” during a trip to Lithuania on Wednesday.
He and other lawmakers have called on Washington to present military assistance to Ukraine, including light arms and anti-aircraft defenses.
Hagel tried to reassure NATO members which include the Baltic states and Poland worried concerning the impact of Russia’s actions in Ukraine on their security.
Washington is “fully” committed to ensuring their territory is respected, according to NATO obligations, he said.
Since the beginning of the Ukrainian crisis, the Pentagon has sent 12 F-16 fighter jets and their support teams to Poland.
And Hagel said the planes would stay there until the tip of the year, as he called on other European members of NATO to contribute reinforcements.
The Country and Poland separately comply with increase their military cooperation for anti-aircraft and special forces capabilities, in keeping with Siemoniak.
Poland is because of host a NATO antimissile defense site in 2018 geared toward guarding against Iranian threats which have raised the ire of Moscow.
“We are talking concerning the presence of the yank troops in Poland,” the defense minister acknowledged.
But Siemoniak stopped wanting calling for the establishment people military bases, as requested by the conservative Polish opposition.
“There can be some new opportunities for rotational-basis forces,” Hagel said.
“But no decisions were made, and we’ll continue to speak about these issues as NATO is discussing these issues.”
Since the tip of the Cold War, NATO has balked at developing bases in members states that after belonged to the Soviet bloc, to be able to avoid angering Russia.
Related Topic Tags