US to give Ukraine new types of weapons Wednesday, March 6, 2019 10:00:27 AM

The US plans to supply Ukraine with sniper systems and possibly weaponry for the Navy, said General Curtis Scaparrotti, Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO Allied Command Operations and Commander of the US European Command, the Voice of America reports.

“Sniper systems, ammunition and, taking into account the situation at the Kerch Strait, we may discuss naval systems in future,” Scaparrotti said during a hearing of the US Senate Committee on Armed Services in response to a question from Senator Jim Inhofe.

Inhofe wanted to know why Javelin anti-tank missiles were the only lethal weapons Ukraine had been assisted with, despite the fact that the US executive government has the necessary authority.

“We have spoken about this and included statements in our laws on defense expenditure which would allow us to send lethal weapons assistance to Ukraine. As far as I know, there has only been one case where we have actually sent lethal assistance – the Javelin. Tell me, why haven’t we succeeded in this even though we have the authority?” the senator asked.

“We need to hold strategic discussions on the deployment of these kinds of weapons systems,” the general responded.

Scaparrotti also remarked that Ukraine has treated the Javelins responsibly.

“As we noted with respect to the Javelin authorization, I believe the Ukrainians have been trained to use these systems. They are treating their safety and deployment responsibly. We have been monitoring this closely,” Scaparrotti noted.

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