US gives Ukraine $1,6b of ‘crucial’ military aid

The United States will send an additional US$1 billion (NZ$1.6B) in military aid to Ukraine, President Joe Biden announced yesterday, bolstering Ukrainian fighters as they are pummeled by Russian forces in the country’s east.

The announcement came amid reports two former US servicemen had been captured by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. The pair were taken prisoner during a fierce battle outside the northeast city of Kharkiv, according to comrades who were fighting alongside them for Ukraine.

The US arms will include artillery, rocket systems, coastal defense weapons and ammunition. For the first time, Ukrainian forces will receive mobile Harpoon anti-ship missile launchers.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is meeting Nato allies and other partners for two days of talks in Brussels, focused on support for Ukraine and broader changes in trans-atlantic security.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had issued urgent appeals for greater numbers of more sophisticated weapons to help Ukraine hold off Russia’s

larger, more advanced military, including air and missile defence systems.

In Brussels yesterday, Austin said the latest package will be ‘‘crucial’’ to helping Ukraine repel Russia’s assault in Donbas. The coming days are critical for Ukraine’s future as Russia makes military gains in the region and key EU countries seek a diplomatic solution.

Americans Alexander Drueke, 39, and Andy Huynh, 27, had been serving as volunteers with a Ukrainian army unit. They are believed to be the first US servicemen to end up as Russian prisoners of war. They join a growing number of Western military volunteers captured by Russian forces, including three Britons – Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Andrew Hill – who had been sentenced to death by an internationally unrecognised pro-russian separatist court.

Austin suggested there will be more to come from allies and partners, noting that Germany would send long-range artillery rocket systems, and Slovakia has promised helicopters and ammunition. Allies ‘‘will stay focused on this for as long as it takes,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, polling by the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), a Berlin-based think tank, has found a large bloc of European voters would support territorial losses for Ukraine in return for an end to the war as soon as possible. Across the 10 countries surveyed, which included Britain, 35% back ‘‘peace’’ while only 22% back ‘‘justice’’, defined as the position ‘‘that only Russia’s clear defeat can bring peace’’.

The polling increases fears that Ukraine will come under French, German and Italian pressure to concede territory in what is being seen as an echo of the Munich agreement in 1938. – Washington Post, Telegraph Group, The Times