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Added on the 11/05/2023 14:30:40 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
"I can confirm that the United States provided Ukraine with long-range ATACMs at the President's direction," US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel tells reporters. Biden "quietly directed his national security team to send ATACMs to Ukraine for use inside Ukrainian sovereign territory in February. They started moving as part of the military aid package we announced on March 12th," Patel adds. SOUNDBITE
US President Joe Biden will not give Kyiv long-range ATACMS missiles yet, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan tells reporters ahead of Ukrainian President Zelensky's visit to the White House: "To date, he is determined that he would not provide ATACMS, but he has also not taken it off the table in the future." SOUNDBITE
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says that alliance members must guarantee long-term weapon deliveries for Ukraine, as ministers prepared to discuss a proposal for a 100-billion-euro, five-year fund. Speaking in Brussels, where NATO foreign ministers are meeting to forge a support package by a July summit in Washington, Stoltenberg says "we must ensure reliable and predictable security assistance to Ukraine for the long haul." "We must ensure reliable and predictable security assistance to Ukraine for the long haul so that we rely less on the voluntary contributions and more on NATO commitments, less on short-term offers and more on multi-year pledges," Stoltenberg says as NATO foreign ministers met in Brussels. SOUNDBITE
At a meeting of defence ministers at the Tapa military base in Estonia, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announces that the UK will send Ukraine an additional 600 Brimstone missiles to help it deal with the Russian invasion. SOUNDBITE
During a joint press conference in London with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says that Britain is sending Ukraine more "high-grade military equipment" including Starstreak anti-aircraft missiles and 800 anti-tank missiles. SOUNDBITE