U.S. to supply Ukraine with armaments in three months, Poroshenko says
22 June 2017
Trump administration officials will visit Ukraine in the next three months to sign an agreement on “defense purchases” and “supplying U.S. armaments,” Ukrainian President Poroshenko told a June 21 briefing in Washington, as reported by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency. They will also sign agreements on cooperation in defense, economics and energy, he said. They will also work on expanding cooperation with the U.S. export-import bank and the Overseas Private Investment Corp. in supporting U.S. investment in Ukraine.
Zenon Zawada: Poroshenko’s announcement on “supplying U.S. armaments” would have enormous implications, but he could have misspoken since he referred to “defense purchases” in another sentence, which doesn’t necessarily mean armaments. This could also be one of his many exaggerations of reality.
But the Russians could be prompted to respond if the U.S. will truly supply armaments, particularly those capable of doing serious damage. Reports of defense cooperation are sure to be causing more frustration in the Kremlin already. Both these measures have the potential to escalate the warfare.
Regardless, should the Trump administration arrive in three months, then it will have been the success of Ukrainian diplomacy to have achieved some concrete support from the U.S.
