The following is related to the following article from Global Research.ca - which cannot be accessed at present
U.S.
President Barack Obama apparently is going ahead with his plan for
NATO missiles to be placed in Ukraine aimed against Moscow, but found
a way to do it that won’t violate the warnings by Russia’s
President Vladimir Putin against Washington’s directly supplying
those arms to Ukraine (such as is demanded of Obama by congressional
Republicans, and even by a few hawkish Democrats — all passionate
supporters of Hillary Clinton).
Obama’s subordinate (or dependent
local leader), the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, is now
arranging to receive those weapons via a less direct channel; and
this arrangement couldn’t happen if the U.S. White House were
opposed to it.
The idea might even have originated inside the White
House.
Poroshenko's
Big Haul: What Exactly Did Ukraine Bring Back From the UAE?
Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko has come back from the UAE, and is
reported to have racked up nearly 20 contracts on the supply of
weaponry to Ukraine.
25
February, 2015
Ukrainian
President Petro Poroshenko has returned home from the IDEX-2015 arms
expo, where he was reported to have signed nearly 20 contracts for
the supply of weapons with various suppliers.
But
the details of Ukraine's purchases remain murky, and experts have
questioned the timing and necessity of the purchases.
Following
his tour of the weapons showroom and shortly before leaving for home,
Poroshenko told reporters that "over the course of the
exhibition, Ukraine has signed about 20 contracts for the supply of
arms; agreements have been signed on the provision of weaponry to
Ukraine by European, American and Middle Eastern companies."
Focusing
on the much-discussed contract with the United Arab Emirates
announced yesterday, Poroshenko noted that Ukraine and the UAE
already have an established history of arms cooperation, explaining
that the UAE "were the first to sell the Cougar, the Spartan,
and other armored vehicles to Ukraine."
The
APCs in question, numbering a few dozen units, "have been
effectively used by our armed forces in the combat area,"
according to Poroshenko. The president noted that "today we have
significantly expanded the range of deliveries," without going
into any more specifics.
Weapons
manufacturers believed to be involved in deals with Ukraine have thus
far avoided providing any further details on the contracts, but the
Russian business newspaper Kommersant noted, citing unnamed sources,
that Ukraine had been looking into stocking up on armored vehicles,
mortars, and anti-tank systems.
Military
observer Vladislav Shurigin is skeptical about the Ukrainian-Emirati
deal, telling Radio Sputnik that ultimately, "it is unclear what
Poroshenko managed to acquire while in the Emirates, and whether he
acquired anything at all.
First off, Ukraine's treasury is empty. Secondly, the Emirates themselves do not produce weaponry, but serve only as a platform to demonstrate military equipment. Thirdly, we need to find out who sold Kiev what, if anything. I do not rule out this this was all a PR stunt."
First off, Ukraine's treasury is empty. Secondly, the Emirates themselves do not produce weaponry, but serve only as a platform to demonstrate military equipment. Thirdly, we need to find out who sold Kiev what, if anything. I do not rule out this this was all a PR stunt."
Shurigin
notes that the biggest problem for the Ukrainian armed forces at
present is their lack of cash. He noted that while the army "is
without question in need of rearmament, as the saying goes, [they
need to do it] 'on the heap'.
Previously,
Ukraine received much of its modern equipment for free from its
partners, the US and some European countries, the Poles in
particular. They purchased ammunition with American money. But
Ukraine itself did not actually buy much of anything."
Discussing
what the army really needs, Shurigin notes that it "is in need
of almost everything; it has spent most of the stocks that it had.
The country needs modern artillery, modern means of reconnaissance,
anti-tank weapons, small arms. One of the challenges faced by those
planning to arm Ukraine lies in the fact that it will be necessary to
virtually recreate it entirely from the ground up, based on the
principles of a new army. The Ukrainian army as it exists today is,
at best, an army of the mid-20th century."
Without
Proper Training and Motivation, New Hardware Will Remain A Useless
Heap of Metal
Ukraine's
Army Recruiting Efforts are Failing: Here are Some of the Reasons
Military
expert Alexandr Goltz agrees with Shurigin on the need to build up a
new army, but disagrees about the need to purchase new weapons from
the Emiratis.
Goltz told Ukrainian news site Gordon that "when it comes to 'smashing the enemy', Ukraine can forget about it for at least 5 years, until it rebuilds its armed forces. Without this, whatever new weaponry is bought, it will be a heap of metal. Ukraine needs to create a new, motivated, well-paid army,"
Goltz
adds that it is doubtful what real assistance a country like the UAE
can provide to Ukraine, noting that the country has "no serious
military industry comparable to that of Ukraine's, for example."
On
Wednesday, Ukrainian parliamentary representative Andrei Paruby, who
is on a visit to the US, was reported to have presented US officials
with a list of weaponry the country may need, including everything
from radars, drones and radio communications equipment to anti-tank
complexes.
Paruby
has handed the list over to the Obama Administration officials and to
other officials "directly related to the decision-making."
Paruby stated that in his view, "the US plays a deciding factor.
After
the US, the leaders of European countries, of Canada, will support
this initiative and will more actively begin to assist Ukraine."
On Tuesday US Secretary of State John Kerry noted that the question
of providing Ukraine with weaponry is still under discussion.
In the meantime....
In
an interview with Fox News, Ukraine's prime minister Arseniy
Yatsenyuk made a desperate plea to the US to arm Ukraine so that the
two nations could fight together against Putin.
Fox
News once again manages to embarrass itself by running this
manipulative and pathetic appeal to steer the American public towards
more confrontation with Russia. In the interview, Yatsenyuk seems
desperate and very stressed. Maybe because he feels betrayed by the
US and Europe?
He
urges Americans to join the Kiev regime in the war against Russia:
Cry
Baby Yatsenyuk begging Obama: Let's fight together against Russians!
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