As Lloyd Austin arrived, the US announced another $400 million in military aid<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has made an unannounced trip to Ukraine\u2019s capital as Washington announced another $400 million draw-down of ammunition from Pentagon stocks for Vladimir Zelensky\u2019s war effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Austin arrived by train with \u201cno major announcements,\u201d the Wall Street Journal reported, noting that Ukraine had hoped for NATO membership or permission to use US-supplied long-range weapons against Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US \u201cwill get Ukraine what it needs to fight for its survival and security,\u201d Austin said in a speech after meeting Zelensky and his counterpart Rustem Umerov. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor anyone who thinks that American leadership is expensive \u2014 well, consider the price of American retreat,\u201d he added, noting that \u201cthe price of principle is always dwarfed by the cost of capitulation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, the Pentagon said it would release $400 million worth of US stockpiles \u2013 mainly ammunition for HIMARS, mortars and artillery, along with some M113 armored vehicles \u2013 to Ukraine. This is on top of the $425 million batch of military aid the US announced just last week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the Pentagon\u2019s own accounting, the US has given Kiev 68 tranches of aid since August 2021. The WSJ put the value of the aid at over $64 billion, not counting the additional \u201ctens of billions\u201d from Canada and the European members of NATO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Austin\u2019s visit to Kiev will likely be his last as the Pentagon head, the Journal noted, citing current and former US officials who thought the retired general\u2019s \u201ccautious approach\u201d may have \u201chobbled Ukraine\u2019s war effort.\u201d Heather Conley, senior adviser at the German Marshall Fund, told the paper that the US should have \u201cbeen clear and upfront and given them full capabilities\u201d from the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such a notion is \u201cone of the greatest myths in Washington,\u201d Colin Kahl, Austin\u2019s deputy for policy who left in July, told the Journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt engages in a series of magical thinking, where you can move things instantaneously, give Ukrainians things they are not trained on, have them appear out of thin air, and it assumes there is no trade-offs,\u201d Kahl said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One anonymous Pentagon official told the Journal that Austin deserves credit for helping Kiev \u201cdefeat Russia\u2019s strategic objective\u201d of conquering Ukraine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moscow never declared such an objective. Russia\u2019s stated goals in the conflict include making Ukraine a neutral nation with caps on its military strength, the reversal of discriminatory policies against ethnic Russians by Kiev, and the removal of radical Ukrainian nationalists from positions of authority. Russia has also demanded that Kiev relinquish its claim of sovereignty to five formerly-Ukrainian regions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n