Ukraine: Ukraine's envoy in Washington warned against growing fatigue of the conflict costing the US and allies billions of dollars in security aid, arguing that allowing Russian President Vladimir Putin to rule unchecked would ultimately be more expensive. What will happen. "Can't you just say, 'Okay, let's go ahead and forget about Ukraine'? No, Ambassador Oksana Markova said in an interview on Thursday.
He stressed that if Putin is not stopped in Ukraine, "it means he will attack other countries in Europe" that are protected by a mutual defense agreement between NATO. Expenses will increase a lot and everyone will have to struggle.
Although Ukraine often requests more sophisticated weapons and billions of dollars in financial aid to help the government weather the severe shortage from the invasion, Markova, whose home near Kyiv was occupied by the Russians for 42 days, refused. Said it saw no signs that support for Ukraine was dwindling.
The best opportunity for you is to help us combat and eliminate it while in Ukraine, he said. He cited Russia's invasion of Georgia in 2008 and Crimea in 2014 that failing to stop Putin now would give him more power.
Former finance minister Markova acknowledged the possibility that Russia could still cut off supplies of essential oil and gas to the power industry and heat millions of homes with the arrival of winter in Western Europe.
According to Markova, at present the circle of Russian allies is very small. In addition to North Korea, Iran and other countries that continue to support Russia, Winter is one of his allies.
It claimed that in 2009, Russia attempted to weaponize Ukraine's energy supply, and that "not all of our partners have diversified or reduced their reliance on it before now."
According to Markova, the introduction of American weapons systems, such as ground radar and the HIMARS GPS-guided rocket system, has become necessary to find Russian weapons.
However, he added that even more long-range weapons are needed, "not because we need to fire into Russian territory, but because we need to be able to reach everywhere on our territory" and for flexibility. . where the force is to be stationed. We need range and numbers, Markova said.
Pentagon officials "know what we need and why we need it," she claimed. Asked which systems Ukraine has requested but not yet received, Markova mentioned the various HIMARS battleships and howitzer types so far in addition to the M777.
In addition to the armed Bayraktar, Switchblade, Phoenix Ghost and Puma reconnaissance models made in the US and Turkey, it claimed that Ukraine is also interested in other types of pilotless aircraft. Additional capabilities are available, she said. According to the statement, we will not say 'no' to any capability.
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