Lhe United States will send “a small number” of employees of private military companies to Ukraine to take care of the technical maintenance of American weapons, an American Defense official announced Friday.
kyiv's primary supporter, with more than $60 billion in military aid allocated since the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022, the United States had until then banned American private military companies from working in Ukraine.
They “will be far from the front lines and will not participate in combat against the Russian army. They will help the Ukrainian army quickly repair and maintain equipment supplied by the United States, as needed, so that they can quickly return to the front lines,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
The budget allocated to Ukraine
“We are taking this step because some of the American equipment supplied to Ukraine – or which will be supplied to Ukraine in the coming months – such as F-16s or Patriot air defense systems require specific technical expertise to be maintained” , said the official, adding that this decision was taken “after a careful assessment of the risks”.
Washington has provided a wide range of military equipment to Ukraine such as Himars rocket launchers, tanks and other vehicles.
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Kangaroo of the day
Answer
But Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election could call into question the future of American aid to kyiv. Before the Republican's inauguration in January, the government of outgoing President Joe Biden is seeking to spend every last cent of the budget approved in favor of Ukraine.
Very critical of the billions of dollars released for Ukraine, Donald Trump promised to resolve this conflict even before taking the oath – without ever explaining how.
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