A Ukrainian service member holds a Javelin missile system at a position on the frontline in north Kyiv region, Ukraine March 13, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich/
WASHINGTON, April 10 – The United States has pledged to provide Ukraine “with the weapons it needs” to defend itself against Russia, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday , while Ukraine solicits more military aid from the West.
Sullivan said the Biden administration will send more guns to Ukraine to prevent Russia from seizing more territory and attacking civilians, attacks Washington has called war crimes.
“We will get Ukraine the weapons it needs to fight back the Russians and stop them from taking more cities and towns where they are committing these crimes,” Sullivan said on ABC News’ This Week.
Moscow has denied war crimes allegations by Ukraine and western countries.
Sullivan later told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that the United States was “working around the clock to supply our own weapons…and organizing and coordinating the supply of weapons from many other countries.”
“Guns arrive every day,” Sullivan said, “including today.”
The United States has sent $1.7 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia began its invasion on Feb. 24, the White House said last week.
Weapons deliveries included Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and Javelin anti-tank missiles, as well as ammunition and body armor. But US and European leaders are being urged by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to provide heavier weapons and equipment to attack Russia in the country’s eastern region, where Russia is expected to intensify its military efforts. Continue reading
In excerpts of an interview with CBS News’ 60 Minutes, which will air later Sunday, Zelenskyy expressed his skepticism that the United States would provide the weapons he felt needed.
Whether Ukraine can repel the Russian invasion “depends on how quickly the United States will help us. To be honest, whether we can survive depends on it,” said Zelenskyy.
“I have 100 percent faith in our people and in our armed forces, but unfortunately I don’t have the confidence that we will get everything we need.”
On Friday, Ukrainian officials said more than 50 people were killed in a rocket attack on a train station in the Donetsk region’s town of Kramatorsk, where thousands of people had gathered to evacuate.
The invasion of Russia has forced around a quarter of its 44 million people to flee their homes, reduced cities to rubble and killed or injured thousands.
Moscow has repeatedly denied targeting civilians as part of a so-called “special operation” to demilitarize and “denazify” its southern neighbor. Ukraine and Western nations have dismissed this as an unfounded pretext for war.
Russia on Saturday appointed a new general to lead its forces in Ukraine, Aleksandr Dvornikov, who has significant military experience in Syria.
With that in mind, Sullivan said he expected Dvornikov to authorize more brutality against Ukrainian civilians.
Republican US Representative Liz Cheney, in her speech on CNN’s State of the Nation, called on the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with both offensive weapons, such as tanks and aircraft, and defensive systems, such as anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.
“I think we have to do whatever Zelenskiy says he needs at this point given the just incredible fight they put up,” she said.
A CBS News poll released Sunday showed broad support among Americans for sending more guns to Ukraine.
According to the poll, conducted last week as news broke of Russian attacks on civilians, 72% of respondents support sending more arms, while 78% support economic sanctions against Russia.
Reporting by Joel Schectman in Washington and Brendan O’Brien in Chicago; writing by James Oliphant; Editing by Mary Milliken and Lisa Shumaker