By AFP - Agence France Presse
July 16, 2024 at 4:29 am GMT-7
Published: 16 July ,2024: 03:03 PM GST
Updated: 16 July ,2024: 03:03 PM GST
The Kremlin on Tuesday gave a cautious reaction to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s apparent invitation to a future peace summit, saying that Russia first needs to understand what Kyiv means before attending talks.
Zelenskyy said on Monday that Russia “should be” represented at a second summit on the Ukraine conflict, following high-level talks last month in Switzerland that Moscow did not attend and heavily criticized.
“The first peace summit was not a peace summit at all. So perhaps it is necessary to first understand what he means,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Zvezda television channel, responding to Zelenskyy’s comments.
- Zelenskyy’s apparent welcoming of Russia to talks marks a change of tone from the conference in Switzerland, ahead of which the Ukrainian leader categorically ruled out inviting Moscow.
- The surprise comments from Kyiv come as Ukraine’s forces lose ground on the front line and as the United States gears up for presidential elections that could fundamentally change the dynamic of the conflict.
China and Russia were markedly absent.
The Kremlin sharply criticized the gathering, saying that any discussions on ending the conflict that did not include Russia were “absurd.”
‘Not worried’
“When they want to invite Russia to that summit, of course, that is something we support,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told journalists.
- Ahead of last month’s summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was open for talks and would announce a ceasefire if Kyiv effectively surrendered territory that Moscow claims as its own.
- However there is growing apprehension in Kyiv about how a potential Donald Trump victory in November’s US elections might affect continued American aid to Ukraine.
The Republican Party candidate has suggested he would end the conflict very quickly if he won back the presidency, a promise Kyiv fears would mean being forced to negotiate with Moscow from a weakened position.
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What weapons and equipment has the United States sent Ukraine?
NATO allies are particularly wary of being pulled directly into the hostilities, which could dramatically raise the risk of a nuclear war. However, as the fighting has progressed, many donor governments have shed their reluctance to give Ukraine more sophisticated assets, such as battle tanks and modern fighter aircraft. In the summer of 2023, the United States agreed to allow its European allies to provide Ukraine with U.S.-made F-16s. The first transfer of these advanced fighters was expected in mid-2024, around the time the first set of Ukrainian pilots were scheduled to complete their training on the aircraft.
More than two years into the war, the Joe Biden administration has provided or agreed to provide Ukraine with a long list of defense capabilities, including Abrams battle tanks, anti-aircraft missiles, artillery shells, including cluster munitions, coastal defense ships, and advanced surveillance and radar systems. In early 2024, the Biden administration reportedly started supplying Ukraine with significant numbers of long-range precision missiles, known as ATACMS, that can strike targets nearly 200 miles (322 kilometers) away.
Infantry arms and equipment
Air defense
10,000 Javelin anti-armor systems
1 Patriot air defense battery and munitions
90,000 other anti-armor systems and munitions
12 NASAM systems
2,000 Stinger anti-aircraft systems
Avenger air defense systems
9,000 TOW missiles
HAWK air defense systems and munitions
40,000 grenade launchers and small arms
Laser-guided rocket systems
400 million rounds of small arms ammunition
and grenades
AIM-7 missiles
RIM-7 missiles
100,000 sets of body armor and helmets
AIM-9M missiles
Antiaircraft guns and ammunition
Night-vision devices, surveillance systems,
thermal imagery systems, optics, and
laser rangefinders
Equipment to integrate with and sustain
Ukraine’s systems and to protect critical
infrastructure
C-4 and other explosives
VAMPIRE anti-drone systems and munitions
Explosive-ordnance-disposal equipment
Anti-drone gun trucks and ammunition
M18A1 Claymore mines
Anti-drone laser-guided rocket systems
Anti-armor mines
Air defense systems components
Mine-clearing equipment
Other anti-drone equipment
Obstacle-emplacement equipment
Medical supplies
Air-to-ground missiles
Field equipment, cold-weather gear, generators,
and spare parts
High-speed anti-radiation missiles (HARMs)
Chemical, biological, radiological, and
nuclear protective equipment
Precision aerial munitions
6,000 Zuni aircraft rockets (can function as
air defense)
18 armored bridging systems
Rocket launchers and ammunition
20,000 Hydra-70 aircraft rockets
25mm ammunition
Counter–air defense capability
Manned aircraft
Artillery
20 Mi-17 helicopters
198 155mm Howitzers and 3 million rounds,
including 7,000 precision-guided rounds and
40,000 anti-armor mine rounds
Explosive and combat drones
72 105mm Howitzers and 800,000 rounds
Switchblade drones
10,000 203mm rounds, 400,000 152mm rounds,
40,000 130mm rounds, and 40,000 122mm rounds
Phoenix Ghost drones
ALTIUS-600 drones (can also be used for
surveillance)
47 120mm mortar systems
10 82mm mortar systems
Munitions
112 81mm mortar systems
58 60mm mortar systems
Surveillance drones
400,000 mortar rounds
ScanEagle drones
39 HIMAR systems
Puma drones
60,000 122mm Grad rockets
JUMP 20 drones
Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb
launchers and ammunition
CyberLux K8 drones
Penguin drones (can also be used as
combat drone)
Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS)*
Black Hornet drones
Tanks and armored carriers
200 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles
Coastal defense
4 Bradley Fire Support Team vehicles
2 Harpoon coastal defense systems
31 Abrams tanks
62 coastal and riverine patrol boats
45 T-72B tanks (via the Czech Republic)
Unmanned coastal defense vessels
189 Stryker armored personnel carriers
Port and harbor security equipment
300 M113 armored personnel carriers
250 M1117 armored security vehicles
300 armored medical-treatment vehicles
Radar and communications
1,000 MRAP vehicles
4 satellite communications antennas
125mm, 120mm, and 105mm tank ammunition
2 radars for drones
21 air surveillance radars
Ground support vehicles
100 counter-artillery and counter-
mortar radars
3,000 Humvees
1,131 tactical vehicles
50 multi-mission radars
200 light tactical vehicles
Tactical secure communications systems
Electronic warfare and counter–electronic
warfare equipment
80 trucks
124 trailers
4 SATCOM antennas
10 command-post vehicles
SATCOM terminals and services
30 ammunition-support vehicles
6 armored utility trucks
20 logistics-support vehicles
Satellite services
239 fuel tankers and 105 fuel trailers
Commercial satellite imagery services
58 water trailers
*Reported by media outlets and required by April 2024 legislation but not officially announced
Note: Some numbers are approximations.
How does the aid to Ukraine compare to that for other recipients of U.S. assistance?
When compared to U.S. assistance to other top recipients in recent years, the extraordinary scale of this aid comes into view.
Looking back over the last several decades, aid to Ukraine also ranks among the largest relative to the size of the U.S. economy at the time.
However, the magnitude of U.S. aid to Ukraine can seem less remarkable in comparison to what the Pentagon budgets each year, or what the Treasury Department was authorized (via the Troubled Asset Relief Program) to bail out Wall Street banks, auto companies, and other sectors of the economy during the U.S. financial crisis.
How does U.S. aid to Ukraine compare to that from other donors?
When compared to the critical support to Ukraine from other countries, the size of U.S. aid stands out.
However, many European governments are making larger financial contributions to Ukraine relative to the size of their economies.
Thirty countries have made major arms transfers to Ukraine in the past two years, led by the United States, Germany, and Poland. Nearly all are wealthy democracies.
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