Russia-Ukraine War Briefing Arming Ukraine
The U.S. will send an additional $800 million worth of weapons and other security aid to Ukraine.
Arming Ukraine
As Russian forces regroup for a new offensive in the east, the U.S. and other NATO countries are searching for ways to keep weapons flowing to Ukraine.
President Biden told President Volodymyr Zelensky in a phone call today that the U.S. would send an additional $800 million worth of military and other security aid, including “new capabilities tailored to the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine.”
Biden also said the U.S. would “transfer” additional helicopters — though he did not indicate whether they would come directly from the U.S. or another country. He said his administration would “continue to facilitate” the transfer of other weapons systems from allied countries to Ukraine to help in the fight.
Last week, Slovakia agreed to send Ukraine a Soviet-era S-300 air defense system after the U.S. agreed to position a more modern Patriot system in Slovakia.
The Pentagon separately hosted a meeting with leaders from the top eight U.S. arms manufacturers to discuss sending more sophisticated weaponry to Ukraine and eventually restock supplies if needed.
Lockheed Martin Corporation and the Raytheon Company, two of the firms at the meeting, together make the Javelin anti-tank weapons, and Raytheon makes the Stinger antiaircraft weapon, both of which the U.S. has supplied to Ukraine.
The U.S. has also increased the flow of intelligence to Ukraine about Russian forces in the Donbas and Crimea, officials said.
The information could allow the Ukrainians to conduct more effective counterattacks against Russian forces in the Donbas or Crimea, or better predict the movement of Russian troops from those areas against Ukrainian forces.
Writing in The Atlantic, Eliot Cohen, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, argued that the U.S. and its allies could tip the balance in favor of Ukraine with weapons and advisers on the ground. He wrote that President Vladimir Putin of Russia “will order offensives that, if confronted by a well-resourced Ukrainian foe, can effectively destroy his own army. The challenge for the West is to ensure that this is its fate.”
Sweden and Finland may join NATO
Finland and Sweden are considering whether to apply for NATO membership in the coming weeks and are widely expected to join, underscoring how the invasion of Ukraine has backfired for Putin.
Instead of crushing Ukrainian nationalism, he has enhanced it, my colleagues Steven Erlanger and Johanna Lemola write. And instead of dividing NATO and blocking its growth, Putin has united and perhaps enlarged it.
The prime ministers of the two neighboring Nordic countries held a news conference in Stockholm today, with Finland’s leader saying that a decision could be made “within weeks.”
Before he invades Ukraine, Putin warned Sweden and Finland of “retaliation” should they join NATO. And even a speedy application process could take a year, leaving both nonaligned nations vulnerable in the interim, so NATO members are already discussing security guarantees for the prospective members.
Unlike Sweden, Finland shares a long border with Russia, which ruled it for most of the 19th century. Finland fought a conflict with the Soviet Union just before World War II, known as the “Winter War.”
Russia’s tech brain drain
In the first three weeks of March, an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 tech workers left Russia — an exodus that could fundamentally change the country.
An industry once seen as a rising force in the Russian economy is losing many of the bright young minds that are building companies for the future.
Among those who have left: about 300 software developers, entrepreneurs, and other tech specialists who boarded two planes chartered by a venture capitalist to Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, in the weeks after the invasion. Thousands more flew to Georgia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries that accept Russian citizens without visas.
Some left Russia because they objected to the war or feared that they could not speak their minds if they stayed. Working in tech, they had enough money to flee and could continue their work from anywhere with a laptop and an internet connection.
Others left because their companies pulled them out.
Tech is a small part of the Russian economy compared with the energy and metals industries but has been growing rapidly. The loss of many young, educated, forward-looking people could have economic ramifications for years to come, economists said.
“Before all this started, Russia had such a strong technology base,” said Artem Taganov, a founder of a Russian start-up who fled to Armenia. “Now, we have a brain drain that will continue for the next five to 10 years.”
