Ukraine says it’s already getting lethal aid

Oleg Gladovsky, the deputy secretary of Ukraine’s National Security Council, revealed today that Kiev is already receiving lethal aid from foreign states. Gladovsky refused to divulge what countries are supplying which weapons, saying the matter is a state secret. 

“[The aid is coming from] places where we have no influence and where there’s no public uproar about it (which we ourselves have helped create in some places, unfortunately). It’s from these countries that we’re now receiving lethal aid,” Gladovsky said.

For the past month, the US government has actively discussed the possibility of sending lethal aid to Ukraine, to assist Kiev in the war against Russian-backed separatists in the east. On February 2, The New York Times published an article claiming that a growing number of people in the White House and the military support sending lethal aid. The weapons under consideration include anti-tank missiles, drones, armored vehicles, communication systems, and radar equipment. Washington has yet to reach a final decision on the matter.

Since the start of the war in eastern Ukraine, the US has supplied Kiev with body armor, night-vision equipment, radios, medical kits, and other non-lethal equipment and machinery. Washington has also agreed to provide military training to soldiers in Ukraine’s National Guard. Great Britain and Poland are also preparing to send military trainers to Ukraine.

On February 24, Rada deputy Anton Gerashchenko announced that Kiev had reached an agreement with the United Arab Emirates to supply certain weapons and military equipment.