The United States, which until recently tried not to declare its influence on the war in Ukraine, has recently been increasingly reporting on its own merits in preparing the Armed Forces of Ukraine and in defeating military facilities of the Russian army. Not only has the rhetoric become bolder, but arms deliveries have intensified as well.
In particular, US Deputy Secretary of Defense Bill LaPlante said that the Ukrainians who sank the Black Sea Fleet tug Vasyl Bekh were trained in the United States. The Ukrainian counteroffensive plan was developed with the direct participation of the Pentagon, CNN reported . That plan was at the heart of the recent attacks on military bases in Crimea, said retired Army Colonel Kevin Stringer, who led the design team.
“Because you can’t attack in a conventional way, you have to use special operations forces, and they will need resistance support — intelligence, resources, logistics — to access these regions,” Stringer says.
According to The Hill, the supply of weapons has also increased significantly - now the tranches are many times different from those at the beginning of the war, when the US government did not even dare to list which weapons were sent to Ukraine. Now the reports are detailed and public. According to former US Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor, this is due to the fact that in fact the Kremlin only threatens to respond harshly, but does not respond at all. Taylor currently works at the United States Institute for Peace (USIP).
“Over time, the American administration realized that they could provide the Ukrainians with larger, more combat-ready, long-range and heavy weapons, and the Russians did not react at all,” Taylor says. - The Russians seemed to be bluffing and rowdy, but no one provoked them. And the administration was worried from the beginning, but the fear of provoking the Russians has diminished.”
According to political scientist Abbas Gallyamov, the courage of the West is connected with the failures of the Russian troops.
“The weakness of the Russian army has now become apparent, so it is not surprising that the rhetoric of the opponents of the Putin regime is becoming more and more harsh,” says Gallyamov. “There is no need to worry about the Kremlin’s feelings now.”
The US plans to support the Ukrainian army after the end of the war: according to three representatives of the Ministry of Defense referred to by CNN, the Pentagon is preparing a detailed analysis and developing ways to support the Ukrainian armed forces in the medium and long term. The strategy is being developed jointly with the Ukrainians, and if the document is approved by President Joe Biden, it could lead to multi-year arms transfers and the creation of a long-term military training program, the US Department of Defense says.