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by Tyler Durden

During a meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels among the alliance’s foreign ministers on Thursday, the US and UK led the way in forging a fresh agreement to give Ukraine « new and heavier » weapons, at a moment a limited number of Czech-provided Soviet-designed T-72M tanks have already been transferred to Kiev – reportedly with the quiet assistance of Washington.

« There was support for countries to supply new and heavier equipment to Ukraine, so that they can respond to these new threats from Russia, » British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said at a press briefing.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed that the US is « looking across the board right now, not only at what we have provided … and whether there are additional systems that would make a difference. » The latest cutting edge weaponry the Pentagon has transferred to Ukraine has included Switchblade drones, which are low-cost Kamikaze drones capable of destroying armored vehicles and tanks in the more advanced version of the system.

image via the Drive

However, Blinken hasn’t specified which « heavier » weapons the US would be willing to send. So far any efforts to transfer jets or tanks has been met with inter-alliance resistance given it would likely put NATO and Russia on a more direct collision course. This as on Friday Slovakia announced it has « donated » an S-300 air defense system to Ukraine.

Weapon shipments have also so far included Javelin ant-tank and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. But the Ukrainian government has persistently lobbied for more, often with emotional language – such as Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba’s appeal to NATO this week: « The more weapons we get and the sooner they arrive in Ukraine, the more human lives will be saved, » he said.

Ahead of the foreign ministers meeting, Kubela met with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels, stating on Twitter that he had urged the « three most important things » for Ukrainians are « weapons, weapons, weapons. »

So far Brussels appears to have responded positively. the UK’s Truss has signaled that NATO is looking to go beyond the older Soviet-designed systems currently being given to Ukraine’s military. This after all is what its forces are trained on and are efficient in. « We agreed to help Ukrainian forces move from their Soviet-era equipment to NATO standard equipment, on a bilateral basis, » she said.

FM Kuleba has responded by saying he’s « cautiously optimistic » NATO will meet the demands for more. « I was very specific about the requests and the timeline that they should be accommodated. I will be looking forward to the follow-up from allies, » he said.

Zero Hedge