U.S. State Dept says 'all options' on the table over Russian troop build-up near Ukraine

by Reuters
Friday, 26 November 2021 16:38 GMT

WASHINGTON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - All options are on the table in how to respond to Russia's 'large and unusual' troop build-up near Ukraine's border, and the NATO alliance will decide what the next move will be following consultations next week, the top U.S. diplomat for European affairs said on Friday.

"As you can appreciate, all options are on the table and there's a toolkit that includes a whole range of options," Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Karen Donfried told reporters in a telephone briefing.

"It's now for the alliance to decide what are the next moves that NATO wants to take," she said, speaking ahead of a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Latvia and Sweden next week to attend NATO and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) meetings, where she said Moscow's "large and unusual" troop build up would be topping the agenda.

U.S., NATO and Ukrainian officials have raised the alarm in recent weeks over what they say are unusual Russian troop movements closer to Ukraine, suggesting that Moscow may be poised to launch a attack on its neighbor, accusations Russia has rejected as fear-mongering.

Asked if Blinken was going to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov while in Stockholm, Donfried said she had no announcements to make on such a bilateral but added: "Stay tuned." (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis; Editing by Mark Porter and Alistair Bell)



U.S. delivers 80 tonnes of ammunition to Ukraine


Ukraine has received the fourth batch of defense aid from the United States, which included nearly 80 tonnes of munitions.
That’s according to the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, Ukrinform reports referring to a Facebook post by the embassy’s press service on Sunday, November 14.

“Ukraine received today the delivery of approximately 80,000 kilos of ammunition from the United States. It was the fourth shipment made by the United States as part of $60 million in additional security assistance directed to Ukraine by President Biden in August,” the statement said.

The embassy added that this demonstrates U.S. “commitment to the success of a stable, democratic, and free Ukraine.”

The diplomats also recalled that since 2014, the United States had provided more than $2.5 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since 2014.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, a third, consignment of security assistance from the United States government arrived in Ukraine on October 22.
The two previous consignments were delivered on October 10 and 18. In addition to the previously agreed $250 million, Ukraine receives from American partners $60 million in medical supplies, ammunition, high-precision weapons, and radar surveillance.