West incapable sustaining current level of support for Ukraine: NYT
Officials reveal that US and European stocks of weapons for Ukraine will run low at some point.
The United States and its allies will not be able to maintain their current level of support for Kiev for a prolonged period of time, The New York Times reported citing anonymous officials.
Despite the fact that US President Joe Biden has vowed to stand with Ukraine for "as long as it takes," no one expects more billions of support for Ukraine when Washington’s currently authorized aid package of $54 billion in military and other assistance runs out, the newspaper said on Saturday.
Officials revealed to the newspaper that US and European stocks of weapons will run low at some point and it would be hard to sustain the same level of material support as war fatigue grows.
The New York Times pointed out that military aid for Ukraine passed by Congress is expected to last into the second quarter of next year.
Amid the war in Ukraine, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and have been supplying weapons to Kiev.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden authorized a new $400 million drawdown of additional military assistance to Ukraine.
The US Defense Department mentioned that the aid package includes four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 1,000 rounds of 155 millimeter artillery munitions with greater precision capabilities, counter battery systems, and other equipment.
In response, the Russian Embassy in the US considered that the US' "unrestrained desire" to prolong the Ukraine war is what stands behind its delivery of the HIMARS for use by Kiev's forces.
In the same context, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had previously said that the arms supplied by the West to Ukraine were ending up on the black market and spreading across West Asia. The minister had also indicated that the volume of military shipments supplied to Ukraine exceeded 28 thousand tons.
Ukraine has received billions of dollars in donated arms from the United States and its allies, such as the United Kingdom and other NATO states in the past few months. The Biden administration alone, as of July 1, has committed to nearly $7 billion, the US State Department said last week.