US mulls giving arms to Ukraine

Russian has been building presence near NATO nations

USA TODAY

The U.S. military for the first time is putting together a plan to provide lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine to counter a growing Russian military menace to Ukraine and Europe.

The planning underway by the Joint Chiefs of Staff requires White House approval, which puts President Donald Trump in a bind because it threatens to upend his hopes of improving relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

An official at the White House’s National Security Council told USA TODAY the U.S. government has not ruled out providing defensive weapons to Ukraine. The official requested anonymity.

The issue is being debated in the White House as violence spikes in eastern Ukraine, where Russia-backed insurgents have stepped up attacks on Ukrainian government forces, and as Russia prepares for a large military exercise that analysts expect will put more tanks on the borders of Ukraine and NATO countries.

The logic behind arming Ukraine, which the Kremlin opposes, was endorsed this week by Trump’s special representative to Ukraine, former NATO envoy Kurt Volker.

Air Force Gen. Paul Selva testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on July 18 that the Joint Chiefs of Staff and European Command are preparing a proposal to send the weapons to Ukraine.

“It will be more than just a military recommendation,” Selva said. “This will be a policy choice on whether or not we’re going to give the Ukrainian government the tools they need to defend themselves.”

Such planning marks a change in U.S. thinking about the conflict since it began in 2014, when President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said more weapons would provoke a Russian escalation and military buildup.

“But the Russians are doing all this anyway” and now threaten other NATO countries in Eastern Europe, said Phillip Karber, a former Defense Department official under President Ronald Reagan.