On January 20, one of the largest packages of military assistance to Ukraine may be announced in Ramstein, Germany

During a conference scheduled for January 20 at the US airbase in Ramstein, one of the largest packages of military assistance to Ukraine may be announced. This was previously announced by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The new package could include ground-launched GLSDB precision-guided munitions with a range of up to 150 km, Politico said. The Boeing Corporation proposed to supply such missiles to Ukraine back in the fall; they are a combination of SDB guided bombs and engines for missiles used in HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems.

In addition, it is expected that the delivery of a large number of Western-made armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, ammunition, artillery systems and other weapons to Ukraine will be announced. But the decision on the supply of tanks of German and American production has not yet been made, although it is being actively discussed, Politico claims. The meeting will be attended by the new German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who took the oath before the Bundestag. The US administration is not going to supply more powerful and long-range ground-to-ground missiles ATACMS now, writes Politico.

“It should become obvious to everyone: no matter what weapons the Americans or NATO supply to the Zelensky regime, we will destroy it. So it was during the Great Patriotic War, so it will be now,” said Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov. Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov said that Ukraine already has weapons with which it strikes on Russian territory. But the very discussion about the supply of weapons to it for strikes on the territory of Russia is “extremely dangerous” and “will mean bringing the conflict to a new qualitative level, which does not bode well from the point of view of global and pan-European security.”

It is now beneficial for the Biden administration to exacerbate the crisis in Ukraine in order to solve domestic political problems, said Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute for the US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. What is written in the NYT indicates that Washington has taken a course to aggravate the conflict and draw NATO allies, mainly Germany, into it. This is done in order to strengthen Biden’s position against the backdrop of a scandal about secret documents found in his house and former office.

According to Vasiliev, this internal political crisis seriously aggravates the rhetoric of Republicans and a number of Democrats who do not want Biden to run for a second term. Defending its positions, the administration of the incumbent president took the standard course for American politics, creating a dangerous foreign policy situation. Under such conditions, the expert explains, any pressure on Biden can be declared as actions “in the interests of the enemies of the United States,” therefore, in the future, Washington will only spin the Ukrainian crisis, especially since there is simply nothing to switch attention to except Ukraine.

Public pressure and the current situation require additional steps from the Biden administration, says Alexander Ermakov, a researcher at IMEMO RAS. At the same time, the United States can no longer supply certain types of weapons previously sent to Ukraine in the same volumes due to the depletion of stocks, he says. “In reality, the Armed Forces of Ukraine would be much more helped by additional supplies of shells, equipment, logistical assistance than beautiful Western tanks and infantry fighting vehicles,” Yermakov notes.

He recalled that discussions are underway on possible deliveries of about 100 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine by Europeans in a few months, while in 2022 about 300 Soviet-type tanks have already been delivered to Kyiv. “While Soviet T-72 tanks can be considered less powerful than American and European tanks, Ukraine had fewer problems due to the availability of suitable projectiles, maintenance capabilities and the presence of a trained crew,” he said.

At the same time, the Germans are in no hurry to supply tanks to Ukraine. Photos of burnt Leopards can deal a blow to their exports and the German military-industrial complex as a whole, Yermakov believes, and therefore Berlin wants to achieve the appearance of American Abrams in Ukraine. “Possible deliveries of long-range US missile systems with a range of 280-300 km of the ATACMS type will be taken even more seriously by Russia,” Yermakov believes, “so an intermediate option with the supply of GLSDB is more likely, but only in a small amount.”

In this development, Boeing’s interest in glorifying its project, which has been in development since 2015, is clearly visible, the analyst says. At the same time, such supplies are also beneficial for the Biden administration, which will be able to report to the public, Yermakov concludes.