After a new $61bn programme of funding for Ukraine was passed by the US Congress after a long delay, a further package including Patriot missiles is announced by the Pentagon.
It includes more Patriot missiles for the country's air defence systems, defence secretary Lloyd Austin said.
Mr Zelenskyy had asked for at least seven Patriot systems to protect Ukrainian cities, saying they were needed"urgently", adding:"This is what can and should save lives right now." Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said the meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group - a coalition of about 50 countries - would focus on Ukraine's air defence capabilities.
The Russian air force has also been more active in support of its frontline forces, capitalising on Ukraine's growing shortage of defensive missile capability. Having stabilised the frontline, Ukraine's attention can then turn to the wider strategy of"what next". The West has the defence industrial capability to over-match Russia, but has yet to demonstrate the political resolve to fulfil that potential.In the meantime, Russia knows that a more direct engagement by the West in support of Ukraine would be decisive - Russia could not achieve its war aims.
If not, this latest round of military aid to Ukraine risks being seen as a short-term palliative, without a long-term strategy.The United States is sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine"this week", Joe Biden has said. Nick Price, head of the CPS's special crime and counterterrorism division, said:"Included in the alleged activity was involvement in the planning of an arson attack on a Ukrainian-linked commercial property in March 2024."
"They're certainly frightened of secondary sanctions, whereby the Americans can sanction a company dealing with a company that supplies to Russia."
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