Why Biden is using his last months in office to bolster Ukraine
It is a sign of how concerned the US is about Ukraine’s military fortunes, that it has supplied anti-personnel mines.
They are a weapon which is banned internationally, with 164 countries signed up to an international treaty prohibiting their use.
The United States and Russia are notable non-signatories.
Ukraine is a member of the convention, yet is now about to deploy American mines on its frontlines, in the same way that Russia has.
What is different about these mines is they are ‘non-persistent’ meaning they contain a battery which can be set to go flat up to two weeks after being laid, supposedly rendering them safe.
However, Human Rights Watch disputes that this function makes them acceptable, claiming often they can remain a danger to civilians.
Mary Wareham from HRW has described the news as “shocking and devastating”. The decision to provide Ukraine with this weaponry comes at a time of concern about the strength of Ukraine’s defences.
Some 1,500-2,000 Russian soldiers are dying a day on the frontline.
They are being used to storm Ukrainian trenches, revealing firing positions in an unsophisticated, but often effective, attempt to overwhelm them.
The idea behind sending these mines to Kyiv is to slow down this Russian assault and buy the Ukrainians time, as the clock ticks down towards a Trump Presidency.
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The soon to be 47th occupant of the White House has repeatedly boasted he will end the war within 24 hours of taking office.
That is being interpreted by some as a sign that a peace deal will be forced on Ukraine, surrendering territory in the Donbas and Crimea permanently to Russia, in return for an end to the war.
The Biden administration is therefore trying to put President Zelensky in the strongest possible position before that happens.
Mines might help slow the Russian advance in some places and long-range ATACMS missiles might hamper Russia’s aerial capabilities, but both Presidents Biden and Zelensky know the overall trajectory of this war may be irresistible.
Additional reporting by Washington News Editor Jonathan Wald
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