Politics

U.S. says aid for Ukraine will ‘take time’ but vows to step up military help

Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images
Photo by Scott Peterson/Getty Images
podpis źródła zdjęcia

The U.S. national security advisor, Jake Sullivan has said it will “take time” to provide financial aid to Ukraine and warned that Russia could meanwhile make territorial gains.

Referring to Ukraine’s situation following the months-long impasse over continued U.S. financial assistance, on Wednesday Sullivansaid the six-month delay in Congress "was not without consequences”.

“Ukraine is still under intense pressure on the battlefield, and it is certainly possible that Russiacould make tactical advances in the coming weeks,” he said.

“It’s going to take time for us to dig ourselves out of the hole that took us six months to dig,” the national security advisor went on to say.
He added that the new arms packagefor Ukraine, signed shortly after the adoption of the law guaranteeing nearly $61 billion for further support, is the first step in making up for the backlog and a signal that the U.S. will remain with Ukraine "for better or worse."

Sullivan also confirmed that earlier this month the U.S. had secretly supplied Ukraine with long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS)after Russia received ballistic missiles from North Korea.

The ATACMS missiles were discreetly added to the $300 million aid package announced on March 12, and delivered to Ukraine earlier this month.

The national security advisor added that since the beginning of the conflict, the U.S. has doubled the production of 155 mm artillery shells and will double it again by the end of the year.

He went on to say that the mechanism for confiscating frozen Russian assetsand using them to support Ukraine was still subject to consultations but would be an important topic during the upcoming G7 summitin Puglia, Italy, in June this year.
Source: PAP, CNN
More In Politics MORE...