U.S. to provide USD 200 mln more in non-lethal aid to Ukraine

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is giving Ukraine
USD 200 million in new non-lethal military aid. In a Friday, July 20,
announcement, DoD stated that the funds would be directed toward purchasing the
equipment needed to support a variety of ongoing programs and satisfying
operational needs requirements ranging from command-and-control to secure
communications to military medical treatment. The move comes as a result of
Ukraine recasting its state security architecture to fall in line with its
Euro-Atlantic partners by adopting the new Law on National Security. DoD sees
this as “a major step toward Ukraine’s goal of achieving NATO
interoperability”.

DoD’s announcement comes on the heels of Russian
Federation Vladimir Putin’s July 19 warning to NATO that if it seeks closer
ties to Ukraine and Georgia, the organization “should think about the possible
consequences of such an irresponsible policy”. Putin, speaking in Moscow before
a gathering of Russian diplomats, also said that he spoke about the issue with
U.S. President Donald Trump in Helsinki on July 16.

James Hydzik: The aid is certainly welcome, considering the scope of Ukraine’s
military reform. Under past presidents, in particular Viktor Yanukovych, the
military had been neglected overall, and in terms of equipment and
infrastructure has had to modernize on the fly while fighting off an aggressor.
Closer integration with NATO at the level of standards and operations can only
further that modernization. Under the direction of Secretary Mattis, the
Department of Defense has shown a deft touch as well in its responses to
Russian-backed aggression from moves such as this announcement regarding
Ukraine to cruise missile attacks in Syria. As long as DoD has the political
room to maneuver in Ukraine matters, we see no change in its methods and actions.