A new emergency military aid package for Ukraine was announced late Thursday with the United States, Britain, Denmark and the Netherlands joining together to rush air-defence weaponry to the country.
“The Denmark, the Netherlands, and the UK defense ministries and the United States Department of Defense today announced that they are partnering together to deliver high priority air defense equipment to Ukraine,” the British Ministry of Defense said in a joint statement with its allies.
“The initiative will deliver hundreds of short and medium range air defense missiles and associated systems required to protect Ukraine’s critical national infrastructure and further ensure the success of counter-offensive operations in coming months,” the ministry said.
The Defense Ministry outlined “delivery of the equipment has already begun and should be complete within several weeks.”
The fresh commitment came on the same day a former U.S. ambassador and Special Representative for Ukraine said the country should send A-10 ‘Warthog’ close air support attack planes as well as F-16 jet fighters, saying “we could be doing more,” as Breitbart London reported.
Speaking at the 13th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Brussels, Belgium, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin emphasized the importance of air defence, UPI reports.
“I ask this contact group to continue to dig deep to provide Ukraine with the air-defense assets and munitions that is so urgently needs to protect its citizens,” Austin said, “Ukraine’s fight is a marathon not a sprint.”
“We will also continue to adapt our assistance to meet the changing circumstances on the ground and the changing needs of Ukraine’s forces,” Austin continued. “The people of Ukraine continue to inspire us with their courage and resilience.”
The defense secretary thanked the “50 nations that have provided Ukraine with training and equipment,” and singled out the Netherlands and Denmark for spearheading the effort to train Ukrainian pilots on fourth-generation aircraft, including the F-16.
File/A U.S. Air Force F-16 refuels in mid-flight from a KC-135 Stratotanker during a Red Flag exercise over The Nevada Test and Training Range on Feb. 10, 2014. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hopes training for Ukrainian pilots on F-16s will begin in coming weeks. (John Locher/Las Vegas Review-Journal via AP)
The U.S. Defense Department said in a statement Thursday the “support will need to continue for the long haul.”
On Tuesday, the British-led Joint Expeditionary Force, which is comprised of 10 European nations, announced a $116 million air defense package for Ukraine.
On the same day the U.S. announced its own new $321 million defense aid package.
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