Retired generals and ex-officials urge US to supply more military aid to Ukraine

Group calls on Joe Biden's administration to send long-range weapons to disrupt Russian offensive

A recent aid package included munitions for Himars defence systems, but the group argued that the administration should deliver them in larger quantities. AFP

Nineteen retired US generals and former officials are urging President Joe Biden's administration to send more arms to Ukraine or risk “unintentionally seizing defeat from the jaws of victory”.

In an opinion piece for The Hill, the former generals, diplomats and officials said the US has been reluctant to provide the war-torn country with heavier ammunition out of fear of provoking Russia into using its nuclear arsenal.

“We may think that each day we delay providing Ukraine the weapons it needs to win, we are avoiding a confrontation with the Kremlin,” the piece read.

“To the contrary, we are merely increasing the probability that we will face that danger on less favourable grounds.”

Among those who signed the article were Philip Breedlove, former supreme commander of Nato forces in Europe; Kurt Volker, former US ambassador to Nato; and Marie Yovanovitch, former US ambassador to Ukraine.

Pentagon figures show that the US has sent more than $9 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia's invasion on February 24, including a recent $1bn in security assistance announced last week.

The most recent package included munitions for Himars defence systems, but the former generals and officials argued that the administration should deliver them in larger quantities to “maximise their impact on the battlefield”.

Such weapons, they said, would stop Moscow's aggression.

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  A Russian multiple-launch 'Hurricane' rocket system in action during battles in an undisclosed area in Ukraine. EPA

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  The Turkish bulk carrier 'Osprey S' is anchored off the shore near Istanbul. The vessel was expected to arrive in Ukraine's Chornomorsk port carrying grain, becoming the first ship to arrive at a Ukrainian port during the war. Reuters

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  Young volunteers from the 'Repair Together' initiative, together with the local residents, clear rubble from a house that was destroyed during fighting, in Ivanivka, Chernihiv region. EPA

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  A member of the Ukrainian National Guard jumps into a trench at a position near a front line, in the Kharkiv region. Reuters

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  A Ukrainian soldier after a rocket fragment hit his car, in Bakhmut. AFP

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  Combine harvesters of the Continental Farmers Group agricultural company harvest wheat in the Ternopil region of Ukraine. Getty Images

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  A cemetery worker places a cross on the grave of Ukrainian soldier Serhiy Marchenko, who died aged 26, after his burial in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region. AP

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  Women attend a rally of relatives and friends of defenders of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol. Reuters

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  Ukrainian troops fire with a BM27 Uragan multiple-launch rocket system, in the Kharkiv region. Reuters

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  A couple carry water bottles after filling them up at a store in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region. AP

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  A girl holds a doll as people wait in Pokrovsk, to board a train to Dnipro and Lviv, during an evacuation effort from war-affected areas of eastern Ukraine. Reuters

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  People make their way through the partially-closed Market of Kramatorsk. Reuters

“With the necessary weapons and economic aid, Ukraine can defeat Russia,” they wrote.

Kyiv, they argued, also needs long-range weapons such as Army Tactical Missile Systems, which have a range of up to 300 kilometres.

Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum last month, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the Biden administration has been reluctant to take such a step to avoid a “third world war”.

The signatories added that nuclear deterrence is still an effective tool, and that Russia's threats to use the weapons in its arsenal have proved hollow.

“It is to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's advantage to threaten nuclear war, but not to initiate it,” they wrote.

US Himars multiple launch rocket system — in pictures

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  A High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (Himars) rocket fired by US forces during live-fire exercises in the Philippines. Reuters

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  The Himars is a light multiple rocket launcher developed in the late 1990s. EPA

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  Himars rockets are fired during US military exercises in Morocco. AFP

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  Ukrainian soldiers ride on a vehicle carrying a rocket launcher in eastern Ukraine. AFP

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  A vehicle fires the Himars during combat training in Yakima, Washington state. The Olympian / AP

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  A soldier stands in the ruins of Mariupol's theatre, destroyed in Russian shelling. AFP

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  A Himars rocket launcher displayed at the 2021 Dubai Airshow. AFP

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  A Ukrainian soldier stands outside a school hit by Russian artillery in the village of Zelenyi Hai. AFP

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  US military personnel stand by a Himars vehicle during a defence show in Saudi Arabia. AFP

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  A US Himars is unloaded during military exercises in Latvia. EPA

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  Ukrainian soldiers embedded in a trench on the front line in the Lugansk region. AFP