The U.S. Department of Defense sees risks on the battlefield in Ukraine and believes that without American assistance, Ukraine will be at a disadvantage, particularly in terms of artillery. This was stated by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at a hearing of the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee on February 29, UNN reports citing Voice of America.
"We see the risks on the battlefield every day as Ukrainians bravely fight to defend their sovereign territory. And let me remind everyone that with our support and security assistance, they have regained half of the territory that Russia seized. Every day we see how the Russians continue to press and make gradual territorial gains, and this is very disturbing. Without our support, the Ukrainians will be at a disadvantage in terms of artillery. And they will also be at risk due to the lack of proper air defense
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The Armed Services Committee hearings were held due to the unexpected absence of the Secretary of Defense for health reasons in early January 2024, which Lloyd Austin did not officially inform US President Joe Biden and key Pentagon officials about for several days.
Several Democratic congressmen at the hearing were highly critical of Speaker Mike Johnson's reluctance to introduce a bill in the House of Representatives to provide additional funding for Ukraine and other partners that was passed in the Senate about two weeks ago. The lawmakers accused the radical wing of the Republicans of being unwilling to support Ukraine as a key US ally.
"I think everybody in this room knows that if the bill were to come to the floor, we would get an overwhelming majority, almost two-thirds. I talked to some Republicans who said it would be 300 votes," said Democratic Congressman Joseph Courtney.
Responding to his opponents, Republican Congressman Austin Scott assured them that Republicans support Ukraine and want the Ukrainian people to win the war. However, in his opinion, this requires the implementation of the sanctions regime imposed on Russia - in addition to the supply of weapons.