New Delhi: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov discussed military aid to Ukraine in a recent phone conversation, including additional supplies of HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, the Pentagon said on Tuesday.
“Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Ukrainian Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov today to discuss the outcomes of the recent Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting and ongoing security assistance to Ukraine, including the recent U.S. commitment of additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS),” Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Todd Breasseale said in a statement.
Austin reassured Reznikov that the United States was moving as quickly as possible to deliver equipment to Ukraine, the statement says.
Chief of the Ukrainian presidential office Andrey Yermak said on July 24 that US congressmen pledged to provide up to 30 HIMARS systems and munitions.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a special military operation following a request for help from the leaders of the Donbas republics. He stressed that Moscow’s plans did not include an occupation of Ukrainian territories, its goals being the demilitarization and denazification of the country. In response, the West began to gradually introduce sweeping sanctions against Moscow and supply weapons and military equipment to Kyiv estimated at billions of dollars.
(Vinayak)