U.S. ups lethal aide to Ukraine with 210 anti-tank missiles

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration told Congress on Thursday that it plans to sell Ukraine 210 anti-tank missiles to help it defend its territory from Russia, in a major escalation of U.S. lethal assistance to Ukraine’s military.

The long-awaited move, which lawmakers of both parties have been urging for years, deepens America’s involvement in the military conflict and may further strain relations with Moscow. It came the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his country has developed new nuclear weapons he claims can’t be intercepted by an enemy.

The $47 billion sale includes the 210 American-made Javelin missiles along with 37 command launch units. In anticipation of the sale, the United States has already started training Ukraine’s forces on how to use them. The missiles will come from existing U.S. Army stockpiles, probably those that are already stationed in Europe, speeding up the process for transferring them to Ukraine’s military.

Ukraine has long sought to boost its defenses against Russian-backed separatists armed with tanks that have rolled through eastern Ukraine during violence that has killed more than 10,000 since 2014. Previously, the U.S. has provided Ukraine with support equipment and training, and has let private companies sell some small arms like rifles.

The White House initially approved a plan to sell the missiles to Ukraine in December, but no weapons have been delivered because the administration hadn’t completed the formal process. Following the administration’s written notification to Congress on Thursday, lawmakers now have a 30-day window to block the sale if they disapprove. But the top Republican and Democrat on the foreign relations panels in the House and Senate have informally given the green light. The sale is expected to go through.

That means the weapons will probably be delivered to Ukraine around mid-April, said several congressional officials, who weren’t authorized to discuss the plan publicly and requested anonymity.

“Ukraine will have no difficulty absorbing this system into its armed forces,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, part of the U.S. military, said in a statement.

The move is likely to become another sore point between Washington and Moscow, as President Donald Trump contends with questions about whether he’s too hesitant to confront the Kremlin. Ukraine accuses Russia of sending the tanks, and the U.S. says Moscow is arming, training and fighting alongside the separatists.