Although the war in Syria may not be making headlines lately, the international community must remain focused on achieving a comprehensive political solution to the conflict, UN Envoy for the country, Geir Pedersen, said on Tuesday in his latest briefing to the Security Council in New York.Â
Read the full story, “Don’t lose focus on Syria, UN envoy tells Security Councilâ€, on globalissues.org →find more fun & mates at SoShow now !
Countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia are counting more cases of vaccine-derived polio. One reason for this, say experts, is that vaccination efforts have lapsed during the pandemic.
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Making new Stinger missiles will take “years” due to component shortages, says Raytheon CEO
As Ukraine burns through anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles the US has been supplying Kiev, Raytheon CEO warned on Tuesday that the company won’t be able to replenish the Pentagon stockpiles for at least several years, citing a shortage of electronic components.
“We’re going to have to go out and redesign some of the electronics in the missile and the seeker head,” Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes told investment analysts during the company’s quarterly earnings call, according to Defense One. “That’s going to take us a little bit of time.”
Hayes was specifically referring to the FIM-92 Stinger, the portable air defense missile that the Pentagon has been supplying to Ukrainian troops. The FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile, which the US has also been sending to Kiev, is produced jointly with Lockheed Martin. Ukrainian officials told the US last month that they required 500 Stingers and Javelins per day.
Raytheon hasn’t made Stingers for the US military in almost 20 years, and the ones being sent to Ukraine are coming out of the Pentagon stockpiles. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks has said Raytheon had “a very limited stock of material for Stinger production” and that the Pentagon was “actively trying to resource some of the materials,” again according to Defense One.
Hayes said he doesn’t expect the Pentagon to place “large” replenishment orders for either missile until 2023 or 2024.
Earlier in the day, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pledged to “keep moving heaven and earth” so the US and its allies could supply Ukraine and help it “win” in the conflict with Russia. He was in Ramstein, Germany, presiding over a meeting of representatives from almost 40 countries that pledged military assistance to Ukraine. Visiting Kiev over the weekend, Austin said the US wants to see Russia “weakened” by the ongoing conflict.
Last month, the Pentagon speculated that Russia used Kinzhal hypersonic missiles against Ukrainian supply depots because it was running low on missiles. Austin wondered on March 20 if Russia was “running low on precision-guided munitions,” while his spokesman John Kirby later said the use of Kinzhals “could very well be tied to inventory problems and performance problems that they’re having with respect to PGMs,” a claim made by another Pentagon official, for which no evidence was ever provided.
The Stinger first entered service in 1981. Washington sent an unknown number of the missiles to the mujahideen in Afghanistan, claiming that they helped the Islamist guerrillas successfully nullify Soviet air superiority. Some of the missiles were later turned against American troops during the 20-year US occupation of Afghanistan, which ended last August with an airlift from Kabul.
Russia attacked the neighboring state in late February, following Ukraine’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements, first signed in 2014, and Moscow’s eventual recognition of the Donbass republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. The German- and French-brokered protocols were designed to give the breakaway regions special status within the Ukrainian state.
The Kremlin has since demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked and has denied claims it was planning to retake the two republics by force.
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Finance Minister Sergey Marchenko has said his country hopes to raise $3bn in international assistance on top of that
Ukraine’s finance minister, Sergey Marchenko, has solicited at least $2 billion per month in emergency economic aid from the Biden administration. The official also revealed that Kiev hopes to raise an additional $3 billion per month from other sources.
Speaking to the Washington Post, Marchenko said that Ukraine needs “to cover this gap right now to attract the necessary finance and win this war.”
During his visit to Washington, DC last week, Marchenko met with a number of senior US officials, warning them that absent the requested financial support, Ukraine would likely not be able to cope with the humanitarian crisis brought on by Russia’s military offensive. A total of $5 billion per month is needed to cover Ukraine’s immediate needs in April, May, and June, the minister explained. In addition to that, Kiev is expected to request another tranche down the road to help Ukraine recover from all the damage incurred.
Last Thursday, the minister also reportedly attended a private dinner hosted by Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, which included representatives from top US firms such as Goldman Sachs, and the Business Roundtable lobbyist association. Moreover, Marchenko met with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during the G20 summit in Washington last Wednesday.
Since the start of Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine in late February, the US has already shelled out approximately $1 billion in economic aid for Kiev. An additional $500 million was cleared by the Biden administration last week, on top of the generous military aid.
Yellen told reporters last Thursday that America has to “find ways to meet Ukraine’s needs.” She added that this “will involve going back to Congress with a supplemental request.” Her comments came shortly after President Joe Biden made it clear that he would ask Congress to give the green light to more financial assistance for Ukraine – something an anonymous US official described to the Washington Post as one of the administration’s top priorities.
Several members of Congress and senior Ukrainian officials alike have repeatedly suggested handing frozen assets belonging to Russia’s central bank over to Ukraine. However, the Biden administration has stopped short of making any promises so far. Yellen described this potential handover as something she “wouldn’t want to do so lightly,” telling reporters that “it’s something that I think our coalition and partners would need to feel comfortable with and be supportive of.”
The Ukrainian finance minister told the Washington Post that his country needs the money to provide care to millions of internally displaced Ukrainians, as well as paying pensions to retirees and salaries to medical and education professionals.
Marchenko concluded by saying that Washington has become “more cooperative” over time, adding that support from the US is “becoming greater and greater.”
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