US considering long-range fires for Ukraine, State Dept. official says

WASHINGTON ― The Biden administration is “closely considering” providing long-range fires and other capabilities to Ukraine, a State Department official overseeing arms transfers said.

“We do need to continue to take a very close and deliberate look at what it is Ukraine needs,” Laura Cressey, director of regional security and arms transfers at the State Department’s political-military affairs bureau, said Wednesday at the Defense News Conference in Arlington, Va.

“There’s been a lot of talk about F-16s, a lot of talk about long-range fires,” she said. “All of those the U.S. government is very closely considering, but it takes a lot in terms of training.”

The U.S. can’t provide “whatever is the hot topic at the moment,” Cressey said. “We need to take a close look at the conditions on the battlefield, the absorptive capacity of the Ukrainians themselves, the training.”

“This is not just the United States that is providing Ukraine the capabilities,” said Cressey. “This is a coalition of over 50 countries and it’s significant. Other countries are not gap filling. They’re providing significant materiel whether you’re looking at air and missile defense, modern fighters, armor, the like.”

Cressey and Mike Miller, the deputy director of the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency, expressed hope that Congress will continue appropriating funds to arm Ukraine.

“The support of the U.S. Congress in this effort has been remarkable,” Miller said during a panel discussion, pointing to presidential drawdown authority to provide weapons from U.S. stockpiles, longer-term aid contracted out through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, foreign military financing grants and authorizations for multiyear procurement of munitions .

Congress has passed $61 billion worth of military aid for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion. The White House in August asked Congress for an additional $13 billion in Ukraine military aid via a supplemental spending request. Most senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., support the request but House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has ruled out additional Ukraine aid amid growing opposition from the right-flank of his caucus.

An August CNN-SSRS poll found 55% of U.S. voters oppose additional aid for Ukraine. The poll found 71% of Republicans oppose additional Ukraine aid while 62% of Democrats favor more assistance for Kyiv.

Reversing course on F-16s

Pro-Ukraine Republicans in Congress have pressured the Biden administration to send Kyiv long-range capabilities like Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, as requested by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy – so far to no avail. President Joe Biden did reverse course on providing F-16s to Ukraine in August, authorizing training for Ukrainian pilots who will fly jets provided by Denmark and the Netherlands.

A provision in the House’s fiscal 2024 defense policy bill would require the Pentagon to build the Lockheed-made ballistic missiles for Kyiv via the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. Britain has also provided long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Estonia’s No. 2 defense official, Defense Ministry Permanent Secretary Kusti Salm, called the Ukraine war “an existential question for NATO” noting “we’re fairly confident” that the U.S. and its European allies can help Kyiv win despite a slow-moving counteroffensive.

“Russia has pushed this into a war of attrition,” said Salm at the conference. “Our job is to send the message that we can out-manufacture you.”

“Our defense has been a self-inducing spiral of declining defense budgets, especially in Europe,” he added “Our job is to turn this around.”

Bryant Harris is the Congress reporter for Defense News. He has covered U.S. foreign policy, national security, international affairs and politics in Washington since 2014. He has also written for Foreign Policy, Al-Monitor, Al Jazeera English and IPS News.

华盛顿——一位负责监督武器转让的国务院官员表示，拜登政府正在“认真考虑”向乌克兰提供远程火力和其他能力。

“我们确实需要继续非常仔细和认真地研究乌克兰需要什么，”美国国务院政治军事事务局区域安全和武器转让主任劳拉·克雷西周三在弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿举行的国防新闻发布会上说。

“关于F-16战斗机和远程火力打击的讨论很多，”她说。“美国政府正在密切考虑所有这些问题，但这需要大量的训练。”

克雷西说，美国不能提供“当下最热门的话题”。“我们需要仔细考察战场上的实际情况、乌克兰人自身的吸收能力以及训练情况。”

克雷西说：“向乌克兰提供作战能力的不仅仅是美国，而是一个由50多个国家组成的联盟，规模相当大。其他国家并非只是填补空白，而是提供了大量的物资，包括防空和导弹防御系统、现代化战斗机、装甲车辆等等。”

克雷西和五角大楼国防安全合作局副局长迈克·米勒表示，希望国会继续拨款武装乌克兰。

“美国国会在这项工作中给予的支持是巨大的，”米勒在一次小组讨论中说道，他指出，总统有权从美国库存中撤出武器，通过乌克兰安全援助倡议签订长期援助合同，提供外国军事融资赠款，并授权多年采购弹药。

自俄罗斯入侵乌克兰以来，国会已通过了价值610亿美元的对乌克兰军事援助。白宫8月份向国会提出补充拨款申请，要求追加130亿美元的对乌克兰军事援助。包括少数党领袖、肯塔基州共和党参议员米奇·麦康奈尔在内的大多数参议员都支持这项请求，但众议院议长、加利福尼亚州共和党众议员凯文·麦卡锡由于党内右翼的反对声浪日益高涨，已排除向乌克兰追加援助的可能性。

CNN-SSRS 8月份的一项民调显示，55%的美国选民反对向乌克兰提供更多援助。该民调还发现，71%的共和党人反对向乌克兰提供更多援助，而62%的民主党人则支持向基辅提供更多援助。

F-16战斗机的航向逆转

国会中亲乌克兰的共和党人一直向拜登政府施压，要求其按照乌克兰总统泽连斯基的要求，向基辅提供远程作战能力，例如陆军战术导弹系统（ATACMS），但迄今为止尚未成功。拜登总统在8月份改变了向乌克兰提供F-16战斗机的立场，授权对将驾驶丹麦和荷兰提供的战机的乌克兰飞行员进行培训。

众议院2024财年国防政策法案中的一项条款将要求五角大楼通过“乌克兰安全援助倡议”为基辅建造洛克希德·马丁公司生产的弹道导弹。英国也向乌克兰提供了远程“风暴阴影”巡航导弹。

爱沙尼亚国防部常务秘书、国防部二号国防官员库斯蒂·萨​​尔姆称乌克兰战争是“北约的生存问题”，并指出“我们相当有信心”，尽管反攻进展缓慢，但美国及其欧洲盟友可以帮助基辅取得胜利。

萨尔姆在会上说：“俄罗斯已经把这场战争拖入了消耗战。我们的任务是向他们传达一个信息：我们的生产能力比你们强。”

“我们的国防预算一直在自我加剧地下降，尤其是在欧洲，”他补充道，“我们的任务是扭转这种局面。”

布莱恩特·哈里斯是《防务新闻》的国会记者。自2014年以来，他一直在华盛顿报道美国外交政策、国家安全、国际事务和政治。他还曾为《外交政策》、《Al-Monitor》、《半岛电视台英语频道》和IPS新闻撰稿。