U.S. set to deliver more aid to Ukraine
The United States has announced it will provide more non-lethal aid to the Ukrainian Army as it tries to contain a Russian-backed separatist movement in Ukraine's east.
Reuters reports that the aid will include Humvees and medical supplies. The promised U.S. aid is disappointing to the Ukrainian political class and President Petro Poroshenko, who sought advanced U.S. arms and ammunition.
The provision of aid has not been made public yet, but an official announcement will be made by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden while he is in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev to lend support to the Ukrainian government, according to Reuters. The exact monetary value of the aid has also not been made public. Reuters says that officials in the U.S. government believe Ukraine has adequate supplies of guns and ammunition for the time being. A major factor in the U.S. decision not to provide lethal aid is fear that such aid would cause Russia to escalate its involvement in Eastern Ukraine. NATO and the U.S. government have claimed that Russian tanks, armored vehicles, and soldiers are operating in Ukraine. Tensions in the region erupted after the Ukrainian people overthrew the government of Viktor Yanukovich, a close ally of the Russian government. This led Russia to annex the Crimean peninsula and throw its support behind rebel groups in eastern Ukraine who did not wish to be ruled by a Western leaning government in Kiev. Around 5,000 people are believed to have perished in the fighting between insurgents and the Ukrainian military. The United States has so far provided $53 million worth of aid in the form of body armor, binoculars, mortar detection equipment, small boats, and other miscellaneous kit, according to Reuters.
