The US vetoes the entry of Russian ships in its ports

Washington is determined to keep the flow of weapons fueling the Ukrainian resistance “for a long time.” President Biden on Thursday announced a new $800 million deal that will replenish the supply of artillery, armored equipment and anti-aircraft batteries.

“Right now, the Ukrainians have more tanks on the ground than their Russian counterparts,” a Pentagon spokesman said with satisfaction. Biden said he was “fascinated” by the courage of the Ukrainians, but attributed much of the victory to his government for supplying them with weapons and war material “at record speed.” In fact, the first part of the game announced this Thursday was scheduled to leave in just 24 or 48 hours to arrive “straight to the front” this weekend. The US alone has provided ten anti-armor defense kits for every Russian tank, in addition to 50 million rounds of ammunition and machine guns, rifles, grenade launchers, radars, anti-aircraft defense systems, drones, javelins, etc. for a total value of 3,400 million dollars since the invasion began.

The new batch includes, for the first time, long-range 155mm artillery and howitzer equipment that requires training. It is an “urgent” shipment, because according to Biden, it will lay the foundations for this new phase of the war, which is being waged on flatter terrain than the mountainous part disputed until now. “It will be more limited geographically, but not brutally,” he warned.

There will also be an item of 500 million dollars in direct economic assistance that will serve the government of Volodimir Zelenski to pay the troops, stabilize the economy and support the devastated populations, which is added to the 500 already delivered. “With this I have almost exhausted the funds authorized by Congress,” said Biden, who will ask Congress for new funds in the coming week “to ensure that the flow of weapons and ammunition is not interrupted.”

The decision is accompanied by a new twist in the pressure on Russia. The US will join the EU, the UK and Canada in vetoing ships flying the Russian flag “or operated by Russian interests”, which will not be able to touch US ports. The measure is added to those that already prohibited the use of airspace by Russian planes, as well as the transport of goods and, above all, oil, natural gas and metals such as iron, steel or platinum.

Experts believe that it will be more symbolic to underline the harmony with the allies, but it will not increase the pressure much in real terms because Russian ships account for less than 1% in US ports. For the same reason, it will not have a great impact on the production chain either, which could have affected the majority support that exists right now.

54% of Americans, according to an Associated Press poll, believe that Biden has not been tough enough on Russia, despite the fact that only 32% want the US to play a greater role in that war. In fact, only 22% favor US troops being deployed to Ukraine. For now, most believe that the effectiveness of the sanctions is more important than the damage they can do to the US economy, but that support is four points lower than last month, suggesting that as the conflict drags on, it is diminishing. popular support for a military intervention.