Table of Contents
What has happened?
- The Pentagon has announced a $150 million package of military assistance to Ukraine,
- As Russia kept a close eye on U.S. forces preparing to train with their Ukrainian counterparts as well as in the lead up to the debut summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
About the package
- The package is part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative first established in 2016 & the Defense Department said it will include-
- “Training, equipment, and advisory efforts to help Ukraine’s forces preserve the country’s territorial integrity, secure its borders, and improve interoperability with NATO,“
- The 30-nation Western military alliance with which Kyiv has partnered—but not yet been admitted—as it struggles with a pro-Moscow insurgency along the eastern border.
- Specifically, the latest set of aid “includes capabilities to enhance the lethality, command and control, and situational awareness of Ukraine’s forces,
- Through the provision of counter-artillery radars, counter-unmanned aerial systems, secure communications gear, electronic warfare and military medical evacuation equipment“
- As well as “training and equipment to improve the operational safety and capacity of Ukrainian Air Force “
- The announcement follows and “complements” a previous $125 million package unveiled in March involving-
- “Armed Mark VI patrol boats, counter-artillery radars, tactical equipment, support for a satellite imagery and analysis capability, and equipment to support military medical treatment and combat evacuation procedures.”
Conditions on Ukraine
- With it, however, the Pentagon carried a message calling on Ukraine to more closely adhere to NATO values.
- This meant a set of reforms to “better align Ukraine’s defense enterprise with the core NATO principle of democratic civilian control of the military;
- Adopt a defense industry strategy that better supports the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,
- Bolsters Ukraine’s economic competitiveness, and improves corporate governance.
- Also adopt foreign direct investment controls based on national security interests;
- Increase efficiency and transparency in the defense procurement cycle; and
- Advance human resources management reforms to align the Ukrainian Armed Forces with a Western-style career management system.”
US navy enters black sea
- As the U.S. Navy’s 6th Fleet announced the entrance of Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Labooninto the Black Sea on Friday,
- Russia’s National Defense Control Center issued a statement saying that the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s “forces and capabilities have started to track” the U.S. warship.
Russia gives warning
- The U.S. ship “will conduct maritime security operations alongside NATO Allies and partners in the region with a focus on enhancing maritime stability, combined readiness, and naval capability.“
- The Russian military has alleged, however, that the Sea Breeze exercise was a cover for a transfer of advanced weaponry from the U.S. to Ukraine.
- The Russian Defense Ministry, Konashenkov stated at the time,
- “Will closely monitor the course of preparation and conduct of the Ukrainian-American exercise Sea Breeze with the involvement of NATO countries and,
- If necessary, respond adequately to the evolving situation in the interests of ensuring the military security of the Russian Federation.”
7 year conflict
- The seven-year conflict in Ukraine continues to be an area of contention for strained relations between Moscow and Washington.
- Amid political unrest that saw the ouster of previous Ukrainian leadership with better ties to the Kremlin in March 2014,
- Russia intervened to reclaim Crimea, a move Moscow said was necessary to protect its interests—such as the headquarters of the Black Sea Fleet located there—and those of the peninsula’s ethnic Russian majority.
- Separatists rose up around this same time proclaiming “people’s republics” in the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, though Russia denies directly backing the rebels.
Biden-Putin talk
- Biden is expected to bring up the war during his first meeting with Putin since taking office in January.
- The two heads of state are set to meet Wednesday in the Swiss capital of Geneva and discuss a range of issues,
- Also including arms control and cybersecurity as the U.S. seeks to secure a “stable and predictable” ties with Russia.
Q) A mid-ocean ridge is an underwater mountain system formed by?
- Plate tectonics
- Earthquake
- Ocean currents
- Submarine landslides
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