"It was a detailed conversation": how Kyiv managed to persuade the US
This is stated in the article Washington Post. "For Ukrainians who have withstood Russia's punitive attack on northeastern Kharkiv region, these 17 days of expectations indicate that the White House has repeatedly lagged behind the development of events on the battlefield at the cost of lives of Ukrainians," the newspaper writes.
The delay in this decision cost many Ukrainian soldiers in Kharkiv region for a period of time between May 13, when Ukraine officially applied for changes in the use of Western weapons in the Russian Federation, and on May 30, when US officials gave green light. "We just pay blood.
You can sit somewhere in the office in Washington and drink tea for 10 minutes, and here in 10 minutes can cause 10 air strikes and kill dozens of people," said Vsevolod Kozhemyako, the founder of the Ukrainian Brigade "Hartia", What last three weeks has been holding positions in Liptsi, the Russian border. Back in March, Kyiv authorities reported that the Armed Forces were gathering on the border of Russia with Kharkiv region.
On March 22, an intensive attack by Kharkiv with planning bombs and other attacks that caused damage to energy infrastructure and immersed most of the city into darkness. In March, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan flew to Kiev and urged Ukrainian officials to create defensive positions along the border near Kharkiv. But when the troops tried to dig trenches and fortifications, Russian artillery struck the area, making it impossible to move earthworms.
At night, the soldiers had to dig blades. According to the source of the publication, in mid -April, the Minister of Defense Lloyd Austin was worried that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation could capture Kharkiv. When attacks began in April, and on April 20, the United States finally approved the assistance of Ukraine, the United States began to send ammunition to Air Defense and Artillery to Kiev, but they were late.
On May 10, Russia launched an offensive, and its troops quickly crossed the northern border of Ukraine near Kharkiv. A little more than a week the Russians entered the border town of Vovchansk. Immediately from abroad, Russia continuously fired at Ukrainians with planning bombs and artillery. The Armed Forces fighters will be denied that the losses they suffered could be avoided if Ukraine was able to strike in Russia with the help of American equipment, which Kiev has long desired.
"If we had the opportunity to hit the headquarters, ammunition warehouses, the accumulation of troops and vehicles, the situation would be completely different," Yaroslavsky said. "And then, and now all warehouses and staffs are in the territory of Russia in this section of the front line",-the commander of the reconnaissance battalion of the 57th Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Denis Yaroslavsky.
Ukrainian officials officially appealed to Washington to use US equipment to strike in Russia on May 13, three days after the start of the new offensive. Secretary of State Blinken had to come to Kiev the next day, but there was an urgent appeal from Ukrainians who could not expect. The three high-ranking officials of Baiden's Security-Sullivan, Austin and Chairman of the Joint Committee of Charles Charles K. Brown Jr.
-listened carefully during a protected video conference, when their Ukrainian colleagues described their forces and civilians affected by Russian. Within 90 minutes, Ukrainians insisted on being able to use American weapons to response across the border with Russia to prevent their city. "It was a detailed conversation" about the weapon they needed, Sullivan told journalists, and the call to "deliver these things so quickly that we could effectively protect ourselves from the Russian attack.
" After the video conference, three US officials have given the idea that the appeal of Ukrainians has sense and Biden should recommend that Ukraine permit for strikes in the Russian Federation. The President agreed to weaken the restrictions on the use of US weapons, a highly set official of the administration. "It was decisive. At that time, it was only about developing policy, preparing for implementation and appropriate implementation," the official said.
Next week, Sullivan convened a meeting of government officials to finally identify policies, discussing what types of weapons can help suspend Russian troops and artillery, and what weapons not to consider. Some former US officials agreed that the changes were desirable but called them delayed. As a result, the White House agreed to the blows of Russia during the weekend.