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The measure passed after a vote of 287 to 55, with four abstentions in the 600-member body. It will go into effect once it is published in the country’s official gazette, usually a swift formality. That would make Hungary the only NATO member that has not approved Sweden’s accession, depriving the alliance of the unanimity required to add a new member. NATO’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, said in a statement late Tuesday that he welcomed the news from Turkey, according to Reuters. But, he said, “I also count on Hungary to complete its national ratification as soon as possible.”

Persons: Jens Stoltenberg, “ Organizations: NATO, Nordic, Reuters Locations: Sweden, United States, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Turkey

When Iran launched a barrage of airstrikes this week into Iraq, Syria and Pakistan, it was not just showing off the reach and sophistication of some of its newest missiles but also staking a claim: This is a new era in which Iran can flex its muscles at will and, as an added benefit, bolster its credentials as an important arms supplier. In at least one of the attacks — a strike that Tehran claimed targeted the Islamic State terrorist group in Idlib, Syria — Iran appeared to make use of one of its longest-range and most advanced missiles, the Kheibar Shekan. Both the range and the apparent accuracy seized the attention of national security officials in Europe and Israel, as well as outside experts who track Iran’s technological advances. The combination of its newest missiles and its fleet of drones, which Russia has been purchasing by the thousands for use in Ukraine, has helped Iran become the producer of some of the most sophisticated weaponry in the Middle East. And Tehran’s willingness to intervene — as a supplier to its proxy forces in the region and to Moscow — may well complicate American calculations as the Pentagon considers the question looming over the widening Middle East conflict: Could it lead to a direct conflict with Iran?

Persons: — Organizations: Islamic State, Pentagon Locations: Iran, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Tehran, Idlib, Europe, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, Moscow

☆ White House Warns Congress That Weapons Money for Ukraine Will Run Out
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-04 | by ( Lara Jakes | More About Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Mr. Johnson is leading Republicans who now want the Biden administration to stem the number of migrants entering by tightening U.S. borders in exchange for more funding for Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has long made clear how big a loss it would be to his war effort should American military assistance end. And I believe it will be.”In battlefield interviews, Ukrainian soldiers said the amount of American weapons and other equipment had already begun to drop. In a bunker of a frontline artillery unit more than 150 miles north of Avdiivka, in eastern Ukraine, soldiers recently looked at a screen of Russian armor arrayed across the enemy lines. They only had 20 shells per day allotted to them, which meant they could realistically hope to take out two targets.

Persons: Johnson, Biden, “, Mr, David Cameron, Antony J, Blinken, Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, It’s Organizations: Ukraine, NATO Locations: Ukraine, United States, British, Washington, U.S, Europe, Avdiivka

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and top Western diplomats vowed on Wednesday to sustain support for Ukraine and its bid to join NATO despite dwindling military supplies and competing crises. Mr. Blinken’s remarks came at the tail end of a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels, where he and other Western diplomats sought to assuage doubts about Western resolve to help Kyiv amid Russia’s full-scale invasion. A White House proposal to send Ukraine additional emergency aid has stalled in the Republican-led House, and the war in Gaza has consumed global attention. “But the answer here today at NATO is clear, and it’s unwavering. We must and we will continue to support ensuring that Russia’s war of aggression remains a strategic failure.”He added that he expected that President Biden’s request for $61.4 billion in additional military and economic support for Ukraine would be approved by Congress.

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, Blinken’s, ” Mr, Vladimir V, Putin, Biden’s Organizations: NATO, Republican, Congress Locations: Ukraine, Brussels, Gaza, United States, Russia

☆ NATO Leaders Try to Pin Down U.S. on Ukraine Aid as Republicans Waver
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Lara Jakes | More About Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A White House proposal to send Ukraine about $61.4 billion in additional emergency aid — out of an overall $105 billion plan — has stalled in the Republican-led House. That has left the United States with less than $5 billion available to contribute to the war; American military aid to Ukraine has so far totaled about $45 billion in weapons and equipment. The American secretary of state, Antony J. Blinken, tried to assuage concerns among NATO leaders. “We will be strongly reaffirming our support for Ukraine as it continues to face Russia’s war of aggression,” Mr. Blinken said a few hours later, as he headed into Tuesday’s meetings. The pointed remarks underscored NATO’s attempts to deter Russia as its war in Ukraine approaches the two-year mark — and as all indications suggest the conflict will likely drag out for far longer.

Persons: —, Antony J, Blinken, “, Mr, NATO’s Organizations: Republican, NATO Locations: Ukraine, United States, Russia, Sweden

☆ Europe Moves to Fill Weapons Gap Amid Doubts About U.S. Commitment to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-18 | by ( Lara Jakes | More About Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Faced with growing American reluctance to send more military aid to Ukraine, European leaders are moving to fill the gap, vowing new support for Kyiv as it battles Russia in a war in Europe’s backyard. Several countries — including Germany, Britain and Norway — are increasing production of weapons, especially the artillery ammunition that Ukraine so badly needs. Germany, once a laggard in providing aid to Ukraine, announced a week ago that it planned to double its support to $8.5 billion in 2024 and would deliver more crucial air-defense systems by the end of this year. And European Union states are gearing up to train an additional 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers, bringing the total so far to 40,000. But that may be little comfort to Ukraine, where a counteroffensive against invading Russian forces has stalled as winter approaches, and officials say more support is needed now, even as many countries turn their attention to the Israel-Gaza war.

Persons: Kajsa Ollongren Organizations: Kyiv, Union, Clingendael Institute Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Germany, Britain, Norway, Israel, Gaza

☆ Desperate for Air Defense, Ukraine Pushes U.S. for ‘Franken’ Weapons
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Lara Jakes | More About Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With winter approaching, Ukrainian officials are desperate for more air defenses to protect their power grids from Russian strikes that could plunge the country into freezing darkness. So desperate, in fact, that they are willing to experiment with a monster of a weapons system that was the brainchild of Ukraine and is now being pursued by the Pentagon. Americans officials call it the FrankenSAM program, combining advanced, Western-caliber, surface-to-air missiles with refitted Soviet-era launchers or radars that Ukrainian forces already have on hand. Two variants of these improvised air defenses — one pairing Soviet Buk launchers and American Sea Sparrow missiles, the other marrying Soviet-era radars and American Sidewinder missiles — have been tested over the past several months on military bases in the United States and are set to be delivered to Ukraine this fall, officials said. A third, the Cold War-era Hawk missile system, was displayed on Ukraine’s battlefield this week for the first time, in an example of what Laura K. Cooper, a senior U.S. defense official, had described this month as a FrankenSAM “in terms of resurrection” — an air defense relic brought back to life.

Persons: Laura K, Cooper Organizations: Pentagon Locations: Ukraine, Soviet, United States, U.S

With his prime-time vow to send more weapons to both Ukraine and Israel, President Biden sought to make clear on Thursday that the United States was not prioritizing one war over the other. But hours earlier, a Defense Department official said that tens of thousands of 155-millimeter artillery shells promised to Ukraine would be diverted to Israel. Here are three key weapons systems that Israel and Ukraine may need from the United States. Artillery ammunitionPerhaps more than any other weapons, the NATO-standard 155-millimeter shells will be in high demand, as both Israel and Ukraine use them against targets within a few dozen miles. In January, the Pentagon said it would tap into an American stockpile in Israel and ship hundreds of thousands of 155-millimeter shells to Ukraine.

Persons: Biden, “ You’re, ” Sabrina Singh, “, ” Michael J, Morell, Mark F, Rob Bauer, Charlie Dietz, ” Organizations: Defense Department, Pentagon, U.S, Central Intelligence Agency, White, Center for Strategic, International Studies, United States, Artillery, NATO, United, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Locations: Ukraine, Israel, United States, Gaza, Russia, Washington, United, Europe, North, Netherlands

Ukraine’s forces struck two air bases in Russian-held territory on Tuesday with American-supplied long-range missiles that were one of the last major weapons systems that Kyiv had sought from the United States, according to two American officials and a Ukrainian parliamentarian who posted about the attack on social media. They were the first strikes with a weapon known as ATACMS — for advanced, long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems — that President Biden was long reluctant to provide for fear it could escalate the conflict with Russia. But Mr. Biden told President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine during a visit to the White House in September that he had agreed to provide the missiles, albeit a version limited in range, according to officials familiar with the conversation. “ATACMS is already with us,” a Ukrainian lawmaker, Oleksiy Goncharenko, wrote Tuesday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. He said that an airfield in the Russian-controlled city of Berdiansk “was hit by them.”

Persons: Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, ATACMS, ”, Oleksiy Goncharenko, Berdiansk “ Organizations: Tactical Missile Systems, White House, Twitter Locations: Russian, United States, Ukrainian, Russia, Ukraine, Berdiansk

☆ Europe Made a Bold Pledge of Ammunition for Ukraine. Now Comes the Hard Part.
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-23 | by ( Lara Jakes | More About Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The pledge last March sounded as catchy as it was ambitious: European Union states would deliver a million rounds of 155-millimeter ammunition to Ukraine within a year. Europe’s shrunken military sector, they say, may simply be unable to ramp up production fast enough to achieve the million-shell goal. Since March, governments across Europe have become more aggressive about assessing — and replenishing — ammunition needs, not just for Ukraine, but also for their own military stockpiles. Manufacturers are building 155-millimeter rounds even before being fully paid. And European Union officials have fast-tracked at least eight contracts with producers on the continent to supply and reimburse states that jointly procure artillery ammunition instead of competing for it.

Organizations: European Union Locations: Ukraine, Europe

The images of Russian troops retreating from a village in Ukraine under fire leave little doubt of the impact of cluster munitions. An armored vehicle speeding down a road before being hit in a cascade of simultaneous eruptions salting the surrounding ground. By embracing cluster munitions to keep this summer’s counteroffensive moving forward, Ukraine and the United States have opened themselves to human rights concerns about their long-term threat to civilians who inadvertently trigger unexploded bombs. One official said the weapons were key to helping Ukraine maintain the momentum its troops just recently gained on the southern front against Russian forces. All three of the officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

Persons: Biden Organizations: The New York Times, Russian Locations: Ukraine, Urozhaine, United States

There he was in Denmark, praising the government for “helping Ukraine to become invincible” with its pledge to send 19 jets. In Athens, he said Greece’s offer to train Ukrainian pilots would “help us fight for our freedom.” Within days of returning to Kyiv, Mr. Zelensky had secured promises from a half-dozen countries to either donate the jets — potentially more than 60 — or provide training for pilots and support crew. “It is important and necessary,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store of Norway told Mr. Zelensky in Kyiv, announcing that his government would provide an undetermined number of the jets — probably 10 or fewer — in the future. It was a remarkable victory lap for a sophisticated attack aircraft that even Ukraine’s defense minister has acknowledged is unlikely to perform in combat until next spring — and then only for the few pilots who can understand English well enough to fly it. With Ukraine’s counteroffensive grinding ahead slowly this summer, Mr. Zelensky’s airy announcements of securing the F-16s signal a tacit acknowledgment that the 18-month war in Ukraine will likely endure for years to come.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, Jonas Gahr Organizations: ” Locations: Ukraine, Netherlands, Denmark, “, Athens, Kyiv, Norway

Ukraine will not receive F-16 fighter jets from its allies this year as hoped, a spokesman for the country’s Air Force said late Wednesday, confirming that, as expected, the advanced planes won’t play a role in the current counteroffensive. “It is already obvious that we will not be able to protect Ukraine with F-16 fighters this autumn and winter,” Yuriy Ihnat, the spokesman, told Ukrainian television. First flown in 1976, the F-16 “Fighting Falcon” is a supersonic fighter jet used by militaries in 25 countries for air-to-air combat and air-to-ground strikes. It is built by the American defense contractor Lockheed Martin and manufacturers in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. There are approximately 3,000 in active military service worldwide, including hundreds in the U.S. Air Force and Navy.

Persons: Yuriy Ihnat, “, Lockheed Martin Organizations: country’s Air Force, U.S . Air Force, Navy Locations: Ukraine, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway

☆ Would F-16s Have Made the Difference in Ukraine’s Counteroffensive?
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-13 | by ( Lara Jakes | More About Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ukraine’s counteroffensive began two months ago, but in many ways its forces have been preparing for it for years by learning how to fight like NATO militaries, with a mix of infantry, artillery, armored vehicles and air power. But the Biden administration waited more than a year before letting NATO countries send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. By the time pilots are trained on the advanced aircraft, it will be too late for them to assist and protect ground forces slogging through this phase of fighting. All of which has raised a question: Without significant air power — a pillar of the warfare tactics that the West has urged Ukraine to adopt — can the counteroffensive prevail? The answer appears to be yes, as current and former officials in Ukraine, the United States and Europe, as well as Western defense analysts, said in interviews last week as the counteroffensive ground on, with volleys of artillery fire and drone strikes but no major breakthroughs.

Organizations: Biden Locations: NATO, Ukraine, United States, Europe

The toll includes some of the formidable Western fighting machines — tanks and armored personnel carriers — the Ukrainians were counting on to beat back the Russians. The startling rate of losses dropped to about 10 percent in the ensuing weeks, the officials said, preserving more of the troops and machines needed for the major offensive push that the Ukrainians say is still to come. Some of the improvement came because Ukraine changed tactics, focusing more on wearing down the Russian forces with artillery and long-range missiles than charging into enemy minefields and fire. The losses have also slowed because the counteroffensive itself has slowed — and even halted in places — as Ukrainian soldiers struggle against Russia’s formidable defenses. And despite the losses, the Ukrainians have so far taken just five of the 60 miles they hope to cover to reach the sea in the south and split the Russian forces in two.

Locations: Ukraine, —, Russian

NATO declared on Tuesday that Ukraine would be invited to join the alliance, but did not say how or when, disappointing its president but reflecting the resolve by President Biden and other leaders not to be drawn directly into Ukraine’s war with Russia. The wording means that Mr. Biden, who declared last week that “Ukraine isn’t ready for NATO membership,” and like-minded allies had prevailed over Poland and Baltic nations that wanted a formal invitation for Ukraine to join the alliance as soon as the war ends. NATO leaders released the document, a compromise product after weeks of argument, at a summit meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania. Hours earlier, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, apparently aware of what it would say, issued a blast at the NATO leadership. “It’s unprecedented and absurd when a time frame is not set, neither for the invitation nor for Ukraine’s membership,” he wrote on Twitter before landing in Vilnius.

Persons: Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, “, ” Organizations: NATO, Russia, Twitter Locations: Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Baltic, Vilnius, Lithuania

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