Ukraine and US discuss acceleration of arms supplies

Oleksandr Syrskyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, together with Defence Minister Rustem Umierov and Andrii Yermak, Head of the Office of the President, has spoken with the US military leadership to discuss the situation at the front and the acceleration of arms supplies.

Source: Syrskyi and Yermak on Telegram

Details: Jake Sullivan, US National Security Advisor; Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense; and Charles Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, participated in the conversation.

Quote from Syrskyi: "We talked about the situation on the front line, as well as the assistance that Ukraine needs on the battlefield."

Details: Yermak clarified that it was "a detailed conversation about the situation at the front, the Russian offensive attempts, and what kind of help Ukraine needs already."

"We really need to speed up the supply of weapons. We have discussed this in detail," Yermak concluded.

Background:

• On 24 April, US President Joe Biden signed a package of legislation passed by Congress with nearly US$61 billion in aid to Ukraine and other US allies. Immediately afterwards, the US announced a US$1 billion military aid package for Ukraine.

• The US had previously expressed hope that the new US military aid, unblocked after the Congressional decision, would help the Ukrainian Armed Forces regain the initiative on the battlefield over time, but a large-scale Ukrainian offensive was unlikely in the near future.

• However, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin stated last week that it was too early to tell if the funding provided to Ukraine would have an impact on the battlefield and that it would take time for Kyiv to receive the weapons.

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