“The US allowed defense contractors to repair weapons on the territory of Ukraine – media The Biden administration allowed American defense contractors to work in Ukraine to service the delivered weapons. Contractors will be far from the front line and will not participate in combat operations.”, — write on: unn.ua
A US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the contractors would be few and far from the front lines. They will not take part in hostilities.
They will help ensure that US-provided equipment “can be quickly repaired if damaged and maintained as needed,” the official said.
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The publication notes that since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the United States has provided Kyiv with tens of billions of dollars in weapons. But Kyiv had to either take the US-provided weapons out of the country for overhaul, or rely on video conferencing and other creative solutions to repair these systems domestically.
The restrictions have sometimes slowed repairs in the past and have become increasingly difficult as the U.S. has supplied Kiev with more sophisticated systems, such as F-16 fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems, officials said.
Much of the country’s equipment is not in use because it is damaged, a second US official told Reuters.
The move is the latest easing of restrictions by the Biden administration, which has sought to help Ukraine defend itself against Moscow’s 2.5-year-old invasion without directly engaging in conflict with a nuclear-armed Russia.
A third US official said the decision would bring the Pentagon into line with the US State Department and the US Agency for International Development, which already have US contractors in Ukraine.
The official added that no U.S. troops would be needed to protect contractors in Ukraine, and that issues such as security and risk mitigation would be the responsibility of those companies that contract with the Pentagon.
Some U.S. defense contractors have gone to Ukraine in small numbers in the past, servicing weapons not supplied by the Pentagon, the official said.
Given that there is already a “wide range of U.S. companies” that have personnel in Ukraine performing contracts for the Ukrainian government, there will not be a significant increase in the number of U.S. company employees working in the field, the first official said.
The decision was made at a critical moment for the conflict. Russian troops are advancing at their fastest pace since Ukraine first repelled their incursion on the outskirts of Kyiv in early 2022. Ukraine, for its part, launched its first major invasion of Russian territory.
However, it is unclear how sustainable the policy change will be given that there is so little time left in the Biden administration. President-elect Donald Trump has criticized the scale of US military and financial support for Kiev and vowed to quickly end the war with Russia, without saying how. Trump takes office on January 20.