U.S. ambassador: Ukraine asks to buy more Javelin missiles:
By Christopher Miller
KYIV -- A senior U.S. official says Ukraine has requested to purchase more Javelin anti-tank missiles from the United States, a move that is likely to anger Moscow amid a four-year conflict that pits Russia-backed separatists against Ukraine's forces.
William Taylor, charge d'affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv, told RFE/RL in an interview that Ukraine would acquire the Javelins from the U.S. Defense Department's Foreign Military Sales program for defensive purposes as the violence continues in a war that has killed more than 13,000 people.
"They would like to buy more Javelins," he said.
Taylor's comments are the first confirmation of Ukraine's desire to add to its stock of 210 Javelin missiles and 37 launchers that the United States provided in April 2018.
The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy declined to comment on the request and the Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for information.
Taylor announced on July 7 that Ukraine had formally requested to purchase U.S. military equipment for the first time, but he and the embassy did not specify which equipment.
Zelenskiy confirmed to RFE/RL during an EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv on July 8 that a request had been sent to Washington, but he declined to name the arms and other military equipment he hopes to purchase.
Since 2014, Washington has provided Ukraine with about $1.5 billion of military support. The Defense Department announced in June that it would provide $250 million for Ukraine to acquire sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, counter-artillery radar, and night-vision equipment, among other items.
The support came after Russia seized Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and fomented what is Europe's only active war in the eastern Donbas region, now in its sixth year.
Russia has provided military, economic, financial, and political support to the separatist fighters who it controls in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, and members of its regular military have participated in key battles during the conflict, evidence shows.
The Javelin missile systems delivered to Ukraine last year are meant to be used in the event of a large-scale escalation in the war and not for offensive purposes, U.S. and Ukrainian officials have said. Another shipment of Javelins would further enhance Ukraine's ability to defend itself against a potential attack.
Ukraine's purchase request comes after Zelenskiy, who defeated former President Petro Poroshenko to win the presidency in April, promised to seek an end to the war and said he would engage Russian President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to do so.
Zelenskiy and Putin spoke by phone on July 11, suggesting that both sides may be ready to engage in talks that had stalled during Poroshenko's tenure.
The purchase request also comes amid a recommitment to a cease-fire in the Donbas region that has existed mainly in name only since 2015, but which has seen fighting decrease significantly since July 21, according to international monitors.
It is being considered ahead of an expected meeting at the White House between Zelenskiy and President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly expressed interest in enhancing relations with Putin's Russia and said less about Washington's alliance with Ukraine.
Zelenskiy told Interfax-Ukraine on August 3 that the meeting "should be held in September."
The meeting could provide an opportunity for the leaders to patch things up after Zelenskiy declined to meet with Trump's personal attorney, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who had planned to visit Kyiv to discuss unsubstantiated claims of Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
Should the purchase request be approved during what would be Trump's and Zelenskiy's first in-person meeting, it would send a strong message that Washington remains committed to backing Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity in the face of Russian aggression while allowing Trump, who has been wary of providing arms for free, to boast of a two-way deal.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
Comic Or Commander In Chief? Reform Of Ukrainian Defense Industry Giant Tests Zelenskiy’s Will
By Todd Prince
When a Ukrainian media outlet reported in February that people close to then-President Petro Poroshenko were involved in skimming money from the military, it blew the tires off his slowing campaign machine just weeks before his reelection bid.
Bihus.Info's investigation accused Ihor Hladkovskiy, the son of Poroshenko’s business partner Oleh Hladkovskiy, of selling smuggled spare military-equipment parts from Russia at exorbitant prices to Ukroboronprom, the state-owned concern that oversees the defense industry.
The allegations about transactions in 2015 infuriated a public that had been supporting its impoverished military during the more than five-year war against Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, which has killed some 13,000 combatants and civilians.
Poroshenko, who ran on the patriotic slogan “Army, Language, And Faith,” was subsequently trounced in the April runoff by comic actor Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a political novice who promised to root out systemic corruption and attract foreign investment.
The 41-year old president now has the power to do just that after July 21 parliamentary elections handed his party a powerful majority – and a clear mandate to install reform-minded officials in key positions in government and state companies.
How thoroughly Zelenskiy cleans up Ukroboronprom, an opaque behemoth that critics say is synonymous with state corruption, will be a litmus test of his commitment to those goals.
The size of what’s at stake for the new president and his country goes far beyond the amount of money allegedly siphoned annually from Ukroboronprom. A transparent defense industry opens the door to foreign investment, economic development, and closer NATO integration -- as well as a stronger military.
READ THE FULL STORY HERE.