US military aid to bolster support for Ukraine
(Baonghean.vn) - Former European Union (EU) advisor Paolo von Schirach said that the new military aid package that the US Department of Defense is transferring to Kiev means that Washington is reassuring new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that Washington always supports him.
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| The conflict in Ukraine has no end in sight. Photo: Getty |
Mr. Schirach - President of the Global Policy Institute and Professor of International Affairs at Bay Atlantic University commented: "The new President of Ukraine, who has no political experience at all... understands that at least for now Kiev still receives support from Washington."
Mr. Schirach stressed that while the aid package is unlikely to change the balance of power on the battlefield, Ukraine will continue to pay a high price for devoting too many of its scarce resources to national security while resisting adjustments to its faltering economy or struggling with deep-rooted corruption.
"This move is politically important. Under the Obama administration, the White House pretended that the Ukraine crisis did not exist. The current Trump administration acknowledges the problem and is firmly on Kiev's side," said Schirach.
On June 18, the Pentagon announced that it would provide Kiev with an additional $250 million in military aid to strengthen the capabilities of Ukraine's armed forces.
The aid package was announced after Mr. Zelenskiy won a landslide victory over his rival Petro Poroshenko in Ukraine’s presidential election last April. According to the Pentagon, this latest military aid package brings total US security assistance to Ukraine to $1.5 trillion since 2014.
Russian officials have repeatedly warned that Washington's transfer of weapons to Ukraine will further escalate the conflict in the eastern part of this Eastern European country./.
