U.S. military stand for providing lethal aid to Ukraine
The U.S. military support the idea of providing Ukraine with lethal defensive weapons, U.S. Air Force General and Joint Chiefs of Staff Vice Chair Paul Selva said during a reappointment hearing at the U.S. Senate Armed Services and Defense Committee, adding that he personally supports lethal aid for Ukraine.
“We [the European Command and the Joint Staff] have advocated for lethal means [for Ukraine] like anti-tank weapons – not tanks and offensive capabilities but defensive capabilities,” said Gen Selva, noting that in the coming months, recommendations would be submitted to the U.S. legislators' consideration on what types of weapons Washington should provide to Ukraine. Steven Pifer, a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, who is now an expert at the U.S-based Brookings Institution, tweeted that Gen Selva “advocated for providing lethal military assistance to Ukraine.”
Former high-ranking DoD official Michael Carpenter wrote on Twitter that he had heard “it goes beyond Joint Staff & there is interagency consensus to support arming Ukraine, but the decision rests with White House.” During the hearing, Gen Selva agreed with an assumption by the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Joseph Dunford, that Russia constitutes the biggest threat to the U.S. national security.
Source: UNIAN
