Expert: If US aid is cut off, it will have a devastating impact on the Ukrainian army
(AFP, Washington, 2nd) Experts said that if the hard-liners of the US Republican Party succeed in blocking military aid to Ukraine, the Ukrainian army will soon lack indispensable ammunition and equipment, which will harm the current counterattack and even endanger the Ukrainian army’s resistance. Russian strike capabilities.
Senior US officials have always insisted that the United States will support Ukraine “as long as necessary.” Since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February 2022, the United States has pledged to provide more than $43 billion in security assistance, accounting for more than half of the entire Western aid.
However, due to the boycott of the Republican Party, in order to avoid a federal government shutdown, the U.S. Congress removed a new wave of aid to Ukraine from the recently passed short-term appropriations bill as a compromise. This highlights that the United States cannot guarantee that support to Ukraine will not be interrupted.
Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that if the United States stopped aid, “it would be devastating for the Ukrainians.”
“Although it may be able to hold on defensively for the time being, Ukrainian forces will weaken and may eventually collapse,” he said.
The United States provides a huge amount of arms to help Ukraine regain the territory occupied by Russia, ranging from small weapons and ammunition, artillery shells, vehicles, to advanced multiple rocket launchers, tanks and mine clearance equipment.
” Troops in combat need an endless supply of weapons, supplies, ammunition to replenish what has been destroyed and depleted,” Cancian said.
If US aid is completely interrupted, the impact will not be immediately apparent because previously authorized aid is still being carried out. The White House has also firmly stated that there will be no cutoff in U.S. aid.
Cancian said that it may take several weeks to see the impact on the battlefield, and Russia should not be able to gain advantage because the Russian army is currently exhausted.
Beyond the front lines, the termination of U.S. aid will leave gaps in Ukraine’s air defense system. At present, Ukraine’s air defense is composed of systems from many countries, covering airspace at different altitudes, and ammunition must be constantly replenished. These defense systems play a key role in protecting Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure from frequent drone and missile attacks by the Russian military.
James Black, assistant director of the European office of the think tank “RAND”, believes that the differences between systems make it difficult for Ukraine to make up for it with European equipment once U.S. aid is interrupted, and the U.S. military production capacity Far above Europe, if we want to rely on Europe to fill the gap left by US aid, “it won’t be possible in three to five years.”
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2023-10-03 07:50:05
