Washington [US], June 27: US officials have just revealed that President Joe Biden's administration may lift the implicit ban on the deployment of US military contractors to Ukraine, in a move that represents a major change in White House policy. Observers believe that this support will help Ukraine gain an advantage on the battlefield.
Contractor role
If approved, the new policy could take effect this year. At that time, the Pentagon will be allowed to contract with American companies to send personnel to work in Ukraine for the first time since the conflict broke out in February 2022.
CNN on June 26 quoted a US government official as saying that the White House has not made any decisions and discussion on this issue is still in its infancy. "President Biden is absolutely certain that he will not send US soldiers to Ukraine," this anonymous official said.
In the near future, the US hopes that bringing in military contractors will help speed up the maintenance and repair of US weapon systems used by the Ukrainian army. Bidding companies will have to present plans to minimize risks to employees if they go to Ukraine to work. Currently, weapons and military equipment provided by the US that are damaged in combat in Ukraine are transferred to neighboring countries such as Poland and Romania for repair, which takes a lot of time.
The above move took place in the context of Russia accusing the US of being responsible for a Ukrainian attack in Crimea , when 5 ATACMS missiles provided by Washington were launched, killing 4 people and injuring more than 150 people. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on June 24 that the involvement of the US and Ukraine in the attack was certain, while a US official said there was "nothing to say" when asked about the incident.
On June 25, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov had the first phone call between the leaders of the two countries ' defense ministries since March 2023. According to Reuters, the two sides covered many topics, including the Ukraine conflict and the importance of maintaining communication channels. The Russian Defense Ministry said Minister Belousov warned his counterpart about the dangers of the US continuing to supply weapons to Ukraine. In addition, speaking at the Primakov Discussion scientific forum in Moscow (Russia) on June 25, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov warned that the risk of direct armed confrontation between nuclear powers is currently high. . He called for continued professional discussion to find ways to reduce this risk.
Regarding the situation in Ukraine, Reuters reported that President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 26 and the country's generals visited soldiers on the front line in the Donetsk region. It is expected that Mr. Zelensky will attend the European Union (EU) summit in Belgium on June 27, in the context that Kyiv hopes to achieve new security commitments from the EU.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper