SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – “To enhance Ukraine’s long-range strike capabilities, I have decided to provide Ukraine with the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) long-range munition,” said U.S. President Joe Biden in a statement released Thursday by the White House.
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This announcement comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the U.S. and on the heels of an apparent warning Wednesday from Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin hinting at possible nuclear war.
Putin said: “It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation.”
Zelenskyy and Ukrainian officials have called it an empty threat and urged the U.S. and the U.K. to allow them to use Western missiles. Earlier this month, Audacy also reported on Putin’s comments regarding Ukraine’s use of long-range weapons. A lift of restrictions on the weapons would be considered an act of war, he said.
“This will mean that NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] countries – the United States and European countries – are at war with Russia,” Putin told reporters. “And if this is the case, then, bearing in mind the change in the essence of the conflict, we will make appropriate decisions in response to the threats that will be posed to us.”
Russia and the U.S. have the largest stockpiles of nuclear weapons on the planet. According to the Federation of American Scientists, the U.S. has an estimated 5,044 and Russia has an estimated 5,580. In 2019, a simulation by researchers at Princeton’s Science and Global Security program estimated that there would be 91.5 million immediate casualties – including 34.1 million fatalities – if the two nuclear powers went to war with their weapons.
At Putin’s direction, Russia began a large-scale invasion of Ukraine more than two years ago. By late last year, civilian deaths in Ukraine from Russian attacks had already climbed over 10,000, according to the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. This week, The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine announced that it found new evidence of a pattern of torture against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war by Russians in occupied territories.
“The scariest thing was that the perpetrators were doing everything in silence, and very professionally. I understood they were doing this to many people, and they did not perceive us as human beings,” a civilian man subjected to torture for ten consecutive days told the Commission.
Since the invasion began, the U.S. has continued providing Ukraine with significant aid, from “cluster bombs” to training of soldiers. From the start of the attacks in February 2022 through Sept. 6 of this year, the U.S. provided $55.7 billion in military assistance, per the U.S. State Department.
Whether this aid will continue after the November election is up in the air. If Vice President Kamala Harris wins, she’s expected to take a similar approach to the current administration. However, if former President Donald Trump wins, Ukraine could see U.S. aid dry up.
CNN reported this week that Trump, the GOP presidential candidate, criticized Zelenskyy for refusing to “make a deal” with Putin. Ohio Sen. JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, described a proposed deal between Ukraine and Russia that would require Ukraine not to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, according to Newsweek.
“The idea that the world should end this war at Ukraine's expense is unacceptable,” said Zelenskyy in response.
On Capitol Hill, Republicans are generally against more aid to Ukraine, while Democrats are in favor of it, according to CNN. In May, the Pew Research Center said that while 31% of Americans thought the U.S. was doing too much to help Ukraine, a total of 49% thought the county was doing enough (25%) or not enough (24%).
“Whether anyone likes it or not, the U.S. will play a large role in deciding the outcome of this war. Arming Ukraine will force Russia to eventually come to some kind of agreement, most likely a cease-fire in which Russia retains control of much Ukrainian territory,” Paul D’Anieri, a UC Riverside professor of political science and public policy who studies politics in the former Soviet Union, focusing on Ukraine and on Ukraine-Russia relations, said this spring. “If Ukraine does not receive substantial arms from outside, Russia’s greater industrial capacity, along with its ability to source weapons from North Korea, Iran, and China, will eventually prevail, and Russia will conquer the rest of Ukraine, with all the consequences that will bring for Europe and the U.S.”
In addition to the announcement about supplying Ukraine with long-range munition, Biden said Thursday that he has directed the Department of Defense to allocate all of its remaining security assistance funding appropriated for Ukraine by the end of his term next January.
“I also have authorized $5.5 billion in Presidential Drawdown Authority to ensure this authority does not expire, so that my Administration can fully utilize the funding appropriated by Congress to support the drawdown of U.S. equipment for Ukraine and then replenish U.S. stockpiles,” said the president. He added that the DoD is also announcing $2.4 billion in security assistance through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative to provide Ukraine additional air defense, Unmanned Aerial Systems and more.
Furthermore, Biden said he directed the DoD to provide Ukraine with more patriot missiles and expand training for Ukrainian F-16 pilots, that the U.S. is cracking down on a cryptocurrency network in an effort to counter Russian money laundering, and that he will convene a meeting in Ukraine next month regarding support for Ukraine against Russia.
“Through these actions, my message is clear: The United States will provide Ukraine with the support it needs to win this war,” Biden said.
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