Where does it all end?
On Monday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced another $725 million in aid to Ukraine, including counter-drone systems, more missiles for the MLRS and HIMARS rocket systems, and anti-personnel land mines.
Your tax dollars at work.
The U.S. is preparing to send Ukraine an additional $725 million in military assistance, including counter-drone systems and munitions for its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, which could indicate more of the longer-range missiles are headed to the battlefield.
It was unclear whether the munitions for the HIMARS are the coveted ATACMS — the Army Tactical Missile System — but Ukraine has been pressing for more of the longer-range missiles to strike additional targets inside Russia.
The package, announced Monday by the State Department, also includes more of the anti-personnel land mines that Ukraine is counting on to slow Russian and North Korean ground forces in Russia’s Kursk region.
Secretary Blinken took to X to announce the early Christmas gift to Ukraine.
Today, I am announcing the delivery of $725 million in additional weapons and equipment for Ukraine’s defense. The United States and more than 50 nations stand united with Ukraine.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) December 2, 2024
That’s a lot of money to pour into the seeming stalemate in Ukraine, especially when Americans in North Carolina are still sleeping in tents. But there’s a new president taking charge in January, and it makes one wonder whether these big aid disbursements are in anticipation of that; President-elect Trump has sworn to bring a negotiated end to the Russia/Ukraine war as swiftly as possible.
There is widespread speculation about what the new Trump administration will mean for Ukraine as the incoming president has promised to end the conflict. In a major shift, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signaled on Friday that to territory under Kyiv’s control could end “the hot stage of the war.”
NATO has generally declined to admit new member-states who are engaged in ongoing conflicts. That’s sensible; admission of Ukraine, for example, into NATO would immediately place all of NATO at war with Russia, by treaty. That’s not something either side in this current conflict should care to contemplate.
