Cash-Strapped Ukraine Plans to Sell State Assets to Help Fund War Effort
New York TimesJun 12
US to Supply Ukraine With Another Patriot System, Sources Say
Above: Boris Pistorius (R), Federal Minister of Defense, and Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, deliver a press conference during their visit to a military training area on June 11, 2024 in Mecklenburg, Germany. Image copyright: Jens Büttner/Pool/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Facts
The US will soon provide Ukraine with another Patriot missile defense system, US officials anonymously told the press on Tuesday — revealing a decision from US Pres. Joe Biden before it was publicly announced.
The decision follows repeated calls from Ukrainian Pres. Volodymyr Zelenskyy for Western help to improve his country's missile defenses. "If we had these modern Patriot systems, [Russian] airplanes wouldn't be able to fly close enough to drop the (glide) bombs on the civilian population and the military," he said at a press conference in Spain last month.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Russian strikes on Ukraine have wreaked havoc on civilians and have decimated the country's energy infrastructure. Ukraine needs urgent help to protect against these missile attacks, but also assistance in repairing power-generation capacities to return the flow of electricity to the country.
Pro-Russia narrative
Attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure are a direct consequence of the failure of the country's leadership to meaningfully engage in peace talks as well as thinking they can defeat Russia on the battlefield. These attacks will stop once a more sober position is reached and Ukraine returns to the negotiating table.