MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 09th August, 2023) The United States will not put itself at risk of reducing the ammunition stocks to a level that may threaten Washington's national interests despite arms deliveries to Ukraine, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said, adding that the Department of Defense is closely monitoring the situation in this sector.
"So we are not going to jeopardize our own national security needs and capabilities to engage in combat operations with ammunition stockages, etc. We're not going to put ourselves at that level of risk," Milley told The Washington Times newspaper.
The defense official also said that the Pentagon was working closely with the US defense industry to refill supplies "as rapidly as possible," adding that military assistance to Ukraine would not jeopardize his country's national security, the report said.
Milley noted that it was "too early" to make conclusions about Kiev's counteroffensive, as "there's a lot of fog" about the state of the Ukrainian advance, which appeared to be slower than the Western military experts had expected, the newspaper said.
The US has committed more than $75 billion in various types of assistance to Ukraine since February 2022. A major part, or nearly $50 billion, has been spent on weapons and related military equipment.
Western countries have been arming Ukraine since the start of the Russian military operation in February 2022. The support has evolved from light artillery munitions to heavier weapons, including tanks. In recent months, Ukraine has been pressing the West to give it fighter jets. The Kremlin has repeatedly warned against further arms deliveries to Kiev.
