Russian media analysis: What is the intention of the new round of US military aid to Ukraine?
2024-08-26
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Reference News reported on August 25According to a report on the Russian Izvestia website on August 24, the White House press agency issued a statement saying that the Biden administration is ready to provide the Kiev regime with a new package of military aid totaling $125 million, including air defense missiles, HIMARS rocket shells, Javelin portable anti-tank missiles, 105 and 155 mm caliber artillery shells, radio electronic warfare equipment and transport vehicles. According to media reports, since this batch of weapons will be directly allocated from the Pentagon's inventory, the delivery speed may be faster than usual.
Washington has previously allowed the Ukrainian army to use American weapons in Kursk Oblast. US presidential candidate Harris promised that if she is elected, she will provide full support to Ukraine. Why did the US government decide to officially announce new military aid to Ukraine on the eve of its own election?
Two weeks ago, on August 9, the United States provided Ukraine with a batch of aid worth $125 million. This batch of aid was announced just a few days after the Ukrainian army began to attack Kursk Oblast. The United States also approved a weapons aid plan worth $200 million at the end of July.
Pavel Sharikov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told Izvestia: "It is not surprising that the Americans have taken this step again. They have allocated various aid to Ukraine before. In my opinion, this time they have planned to announce it on the 24th, the eve of Ukraine's National Day (Independence Day). It can also be called a symbolic move. I think the main problem is that this batch of military aid was provided after the Ukrainian army launched an operation against Kursk Oblast, because this operation brought certain changes to the conflict."
Since Russia launched a special military operation against Ukraine, the Democratic government of the United States has continuously provided military assistance to the Kiev regime. Since February 2022, Washington's total aid to Ukraine has reached 55.7 billion US dollars.
Konstantin Kosachev, deputy chairman of the Federation Council (upper house of parliament), noted: “There is no doubt that supporting Ukraine is a very important chapter in the Biden administration’s policy. He is trying to pass it on to his possible successor, Harris, who continues to make tough pro-Ukrainian statements and an equally tough anti-Russian stance. Therefore, in my opinion, the current government’s decision is intended to prove the consistency of US policy toward Ukraine and try to create a certain coherence on this issue, so that even if the presidential election may lead to a change of power, the policy can be continued because the aid is already on the way. I think all this is natural.”
Kosachev stressed that the actions of the United States and the West are extremely destructive and have hindered the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis.
He added: “This is one of the elements of the campaign plan, but it is this kind of US campaign that once again hinders the resolution of the really important substantive issues in today's international development. In the case of the Ukraine crisis, without the military, financial and political support of the United States and other Western countries, the problem would have been solved long ago.”
Harris, the current US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate, recently promised that if she enters the White House, she will continue to support Ukraine in this conflict. She made the above statement against the backdrop of Republican Trump's rapid rise in recent national polls and his lead. She said: "As president, I will stand firmly on the side of Ukraine and our NATO allies."
Vasily Klimov, an expert at the Russian International Affairs Council and researcher at the Center for International Security of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, believes that this is an attempt to counter Trump, who has not yet announced how he will support Ukraine in this conflict.
He analyzed: "In the context of the huge amount of money the United States has allocated to aid Kyiv, I think this is mostly to reaffirm the Democratic Party's position on Ukraine during the campaign. I think this is all for Harris's support rate."
However, there is no need to expect normalization of relations with Russia or US mediation in the Ukrainian conflict as soon as Trump takes office. During his last term, Trump failed to fulfill his promise to improve dialogue with Russia. President Putin also mentioned earlier that when Trump was president, even without the Ukrainian conflict, he imposed a large number of sanctions on Russia. (Compiled by Tong Shiqun)
