Former US Ambassador to NATO Doug Lute said on Sunday that the latest US military aid package to Ukraine “can make a real difference” as Ukrainian forces battle invading Russian troops.
During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” moderator Martha Raddatz asked Lute about the Biden administration sending another $800 million in military aid to Ukraine. Lute referred to the aid package as a real difference-maker, adding that it will close the “quantitative gap” between the two sides.
“That can make a real difference because this begins to close the quantitative gap between the Ukrainians and the Russians. In fact, some estimates are now that the Ukrainians have as many tanks on the battlefield as the Russians,” Lute told Raddatz. “If not more, right?” Raddatz asked. “If not more,” Lute, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, responded.
“Now, the reality here is that many of the tanks that Ukrainians now have are the ones deserted or abandoned by the Russians,” he said. “So this, this imbalance in quantitative factors like tanks and artillery and so forth, is beginning to get righted in the favour of the Ukrainians.” President Biden announced last Thursday that the U.S. would send another $800 million military aid package to Ukraine forces who are fighting Russian troops in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.—Agencies
