Photo: DOMINIQUE FAGET / AFP / Getty Images
By: EFE Updated 26 Feb 2022, 18: 44 PM EST
WASHINGTON – The United States reinforced this Saturday its support for Ukraine by sending a new military assistance package while warning Russian President Vladimir Putin that his intention to split NATO has produced the “opposite effect” and the alliance is increasingly “more united”.
When the third day of the invasion launched by Russia against Ukraine is completed, and in the midst of heavy fighting in the country , the Department of Defense announced the approval of $350 millions of dollars more in military assistance to Kiev.
.@POTUS has authorized an addt’l $350m of military assistance from DoD inventories including anti-armor, small arms & various munitions, body armor, and related equipment in support of Ukraine’s front-line defenders facing down Russia’s unprovoked attack. https://t.co/kruVPRHARb
—Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) February 18, 451961958
This equipment includes weapons against armored vehicles, ammunition and bulletproof vests, said John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, in a statement.
“Together with our allies, we will continue to accelerate security assistance to Ukraine and are employing all tools of security cooperation in support of the Ukrainian people as they defend themselves against this aggression,” Kirby said.
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The Pentagon estimates that the slow progress frustrates the Russian troops
In a meeting with journalists, a senior Pentagon official, commented on the evolution of Russia’s “brutal and unprovoked attack” on Ukraine and praised the resi sentence brought by Ukraine.
In his opinion, the Russian military forces are increasingly “frustrated” by the lack of “progress” in their invasion and the biggest fighting is centered around the country’s second largest city, Kharkiv, and
n northeastern Ukraine,
“We know that they have not made the progress they wanted, particularly in the part from northern Ukraine. What they have seen is a determined resistance, and that has slowed them down,” said this source, who requested anonymity.
However, he remarked that the Russian attack against Ukraine continues on three axes: from Belarus, in the north; from the Russian region of Belgorod, in the northeast; and from Crimea, in the south.
About the advance towards Kiev, the US official indicated that there are already Russian reconnaissance forces in the Ukrainian capital,
but pointed out that the military bulk is approximately 30 kilometers from the city.
Biden assures that Russia has failed to split NATO
The President of the United States, Joe Biden assured this Saturday that NATO is more “united” by stressing that Putin made a strategic mistake by invading Ukraine, amid increasing clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces.
“My goal From the beginning it was to make sure that I kept NATO and the European Union in tune”, Biden said in an interview on Brian Tyler’s radio show. Cohen.
“Not only is NATO more united, look at what is happening with respect to Finland, look at what is happening with respect to Sweden (…) I want to say that (Putin) is producing just the opposite effect to what he was looking for”, said the president in reference to the signals from these two countries, which are not partners of the Alliance, that they could consider their entry after the threats from Moscow.
Biden met this Saturday with his national security team to assess the situation in Ukraine.
After months of tensions, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday that began with bombings in several urban centers and continued with the deployment of troops, so that this Russian military units are tightening the siege of the country’s capital, Kiev.
In reaction to the Russian attack, Biden has hit Russia with an arsenal of economic sanctions, including the financial blockade of four of the largest banks as well as the restriction of exports to Russia of Western high-tech products and measures against Russian oligarchs.
In addition, he has sent thousands of soldiers to Europe to reinforce NATO’s eastern flank in the face of the possibility that the conflict will go beyond the borders of Ukraine, which is not a member of the Alliance.
By Alfonso Fernández