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The Pentagon is defending its steady rollout of weapons to Ukraine even as officials in Kyiv say the assistance is coming too slowly — and it might already be too late to help turn the tide of the war in Ukraine’s favor.

On Wednesday, POLITICO <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-great-risk-front-line-collapse-war-russia/" target="_blank">detailed criticisms</a> from high-ranking Ukrainian officials, who said they can’t defend the frontlines any longer: “There’s nothing that can help Ukraine now,” one of the officials said.

The West doesn’t have the technology to help Ukraine, and it also hasn’t sent weapons quickly enough, the officials said. While the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/17/f-16-us-ukraine-denmark-netherlands-00111769" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">incoming F-16 fighter jets</a>&nbsp;are welcome, they would’ve been more helpful a year ago, a senior officer said. The planes were originally&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/21/u-s-f-16-ukraine-00107620" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">expected to arrive</a>&nbsp;in Ukraine by the end of 2023, and now they’re supposed to&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/11/world/europe/ukraine-f16-pilots.html#:~:text=So%20far%2C%20Denmark%2C%20the%20Netherlands,the%20year%20and%20into%202025." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">arrive by late spring</a>&nbsp;once pilot training is complete.

The Defense Department also wants the process to be quicker, but is arguing that it’s inching along for good reason.

“While getting F-16s to Ukraine sooner would be ideal, it still needs to be done properly and we believe they will still provide a significant boost to Ukraine’s air power when they become operational,” said Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Charlie Dietz.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said more than a year ago that the jets alone&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/21/u-s-f-16-ukraine-00107620#:~:text=The%20Biden%20administration%20expects%20American,warplanes%20as%20quickly%20as%20possible." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wouldn’t be enough</a>&nbsp;to change the course of the war in Kyiv’s favor, and the Ukrainian officials told POLITICO the delay has rendered them irrelevant on the battlefield due to the shifting nature of the war.

Russia’s large number of soldiers also “poses a formidable threat,” Dietz continued, but he argued that advanced Western weapon systems combined with Ukraine’s skilled forces and spirit are helping to level the playing field. Dietz noted that the U.S. has provided some $74.6 billion in assistance since the invasion began.

But Ukraine seems to be making increasingly desperate moves, a sign that things aren’t going so well. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-conscription-mobilization-251058a942a253f3eaec2c53373adf03" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">lowered the minimum draft age</a>&nbsp;from 27 to 25 years old this week as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-faces-an-acute-manpower-shortage-with-young-men-dodging-the-draft/#:~:text=An%20early%20burst%20of%20patriotic,war%20in%20its%20third%20year.&amp;text=KYIV%20%E2%80%94%20The%2028%2Dyear%2D,registering%20their%20details%20as%20required." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">men dodge conscription</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/zelenskyy-fires-senior-aide-sacks-fires-shefir-ukraine-war-reshuffle/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">fired a senior aide and several advisers</a>&nbsp;in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/zelenskyy-fires-ukraines-top-general-zaluzhny/#:~:text=The%20two%20had%20strong%20differences%20over%20how%20the%20war%20should%20be%20fought.&amp;text=KYIV%20%E2%80%94%20Ukrainian%20President%20Volodymyr%20Zelenskyy,of%20tensions%20between%20the%20two." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">yet another</a>&nbsp;government reshuffle.

Kyiv’s delays in obtaining F-16s and Army Tactical Missile Systems from Washington are just two examples of “how much of a fight it’s been to drag the White House along to where our allies have been for months,” said Doug Klain, an Atlantic Council analyst focuses on Russia’s war in Ukraine. “We’ve already seen that their fears about escalation or Ukrainian proficiency are overblown.”

The Pentagon is <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/12/white-house-aid-package-ukraine-00146487" target="_blank">planning to send</a> a number of older ATACMS to the country, which can travel 100 miles and carry warheads containing hundreds of cluster bomblets, and it already <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/17/biden-decision-send-longer-range-missiles-to-ukraine-00121969" target="_blank">secretly sent some</a> in September.

But Ukrainian officials say there’s one thing that could make a difference now: They want more Patriot missile defense systems to protect against the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-ukraine-attack-missiles-drones-kyiv-lviv-poland/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recent barrages</a>&nbsp;of Russian airstrikes, and they want them yesterday.

“Ukraine is the only country in the world that defends itself from ballistic missile strikes almost daily. Therefore, Patriot systems nowadays should operate in Ukraine and not be stored in hangars,” according to an internal Ukrainian government document sent Thursday setting out talking points for Ukrainian officials, obtained by POLITICO. “The transfer of Patriot systems to Ukraine is a matter of political will, not physical ability.”

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-allies-not-giving-enough-air-defence-minister-says-2024-04-03/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said Wednesday that partners</a>&nbsp;haven’t been sending enough Patriot missile defense systems to Kyiv, and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.state.gov/secretary-antony-j-blinken-and-ukrainian-foreign-minister-dmytro-kuleba-before-their-meeting-10/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">made the plea</a>&nbsp;for more air defenses before a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday.

The country has a few Patriot systems contributed by the U.S., Germany and The Netherlands — all of which Zelenskyy&nbsp;<a href="https://www.politico.com/newsletters/national-security-daily/2023/12/12/zelenskyy-says-he-only-has-air-defenses-to-protect-kyiv-00131333" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said were positioned</a>&nbsp;only around Kyiv. Kuleba said partners have more than 100 Patriots at their disposal, and other top officials say that Ukraine can’t obtain more systems by itself.

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title: Pentagon defends pace of weapon shipments as Ukraine worries it’s too late
categories:
- Defense
- Missiles
- Pentagon
- Technology
- War
- War in Ukraine
- Weapons
- Politics
summary: Weapon deliveries need “to be done properly,” a Pentagon spokesperson said.
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