Pentagon officials want to send F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine to fight Putin after Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s army seized tanks from Germany and the US.

Zelensky is seeking fourth-generation fighter jets capable of speeds in excess of 1,200 miles per hour — contributing to nearly $30 billion in military and security aid since the February 24 Russian invasion.

Controversial debate over whether to send the jets to Ukraine continues as the Biden administration, which has so far rejected Kiev’s requests, must approve the transfers.

Deputy National Security Advisor Jonathan J. Finer claimed that while there is no final decision, the possibility is not off the table — but senior officials are said to be interested.

“We have not ruled out or ruled out any particular systems,” Finer said, according to The Telegraph. Any such donation of F-16s would further infuriate Vladimir Putin and likely fuel the badly damaged relationship between Russia and the West.

Fourth-generation fighter jets (above) can reach speeds in excess of 1,200 miles per hour. The jets would add nearly $30 billion in military and security aid since the Russian invasion on Feb. 24

A senior US defense official added, “I don’t think we’re against it.”

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Zelenskyy, said Saturday that Ukrainian officials are focused on “accelerated” discussions about military weapons such as warplanes.

“We must show the true picture of this war… [and how] this will reduce security threats to the European continent,” Podolyak said of Western allies, according to the news outlet.

The Biden administration must approve the transfer of fighter jets

Zelenskyy is preparing for the US to give in to another of his demands as experienced pilots have already been identified to fly the fighter jets, Politico reported.

The F-16 fighter will bolster Kiev’s defenses as the jet can fly more than 500 miles and locate targets in all weather conditions – as well as being able to detect low-flying aircraft in radar ground clutter.

The US has provided military support to Ukraine by deploying devastating missile systems, thousands of vehicles and more than 100 million pieces of ammunition.

Before the invasion, even the idea of ​​delivering lethal aid to Ukraine was very controversial, but Western deliveries have broken taboo after taboo ever since.

The Ukrainian Air Force has its own fleet of vintage Soviet-era fighter jets that rolled off the production line before Kyiv declared independence more than 31 years ago. The fighter jets are used for intercept missions and to attack Russian positions.

Ukrainian leaders believe Western military hardware will deal a blow to Putin’s invasion, which has been ongoing since last February

Last week, Ukraine finally convinced Western leaders to part with dozens of sophisticated tanks they believe will deal a major blow to Putin’s invasion.

The Biden government is sending a full battalion of 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine after a complicated diplomatic dance in which Germany announced its own decision to send 14 tanks to Kyiv, with more on the way.

The US is testing 31 tanks at a total cost of $400 million. Officials are also providing 500 armored vehicles as part of the package.

President Joe Biden called the M1 Abrams tanks “the most capable tanks in the world” and said they would “improve Ukraine’s ability to defend its territory to achieve its strategic goals.”

He added that the Ukrainian military would use the armor to “liberate their country”.

Biden government sends Abrams M1 tanks to Ukraine. The US approved 500 armored vehicles

The US has offered Ukraine 16 high-mobility artillery-missile systems at a price of $4 million per unit, $110,000 per missile. Developed by Lockheed Martin, the truck-mounted launchers can launch six guided missiles up to 50 miles – or even further, depending on the ammunition used.

High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) were also based in Ukraine and cost around $5 million per unit. The HIMARS is considered one of the most advanced rocket artillery systems in the world.

It can fire six guided missiles in quick succession. Ukraine has already used the system to devastating effect against Russian forces, targeting both soldiers and infrastructure. At least 63 Russian soldiers were killed in a strike on New Year’s Day.

Patriot missiles costing $10 million per launcher and $4 million per missile, howitzers costing $570,000 per unit and a fleet of Mi-17 helicopters costing $17 million per unit were also supplied by the US delivered.

The truck-mounted HIMARS launchers fire GPS-guided missiles that can hit targets up to 50 miles away, a distance that makes them unattainable for most Russian artillery systems

The Patriot is a surface-to-air guided missile system, first deployed in the 1980s, capable of attacking aircraft, cruise missiles and short-range ballistic missiles

The British-built M777 is an ultra-light howitzer that first saw service in the 2001 Afghanistan conflict

First, in the early 2010s, the US bought a fleet of Mi-17 helicopters — a Soviet-designed military aircraft developed in Russia — for Ukraine

Unidentified planes attacked and destroyed a convoy of trucks carrying Iranian weapons in eastern Syria on Sunday (January 29) as soon as they arrived from neighboring Iraq, a Syrian NGO said, reporting an unknown number of casualties.

“Six refrigerated trucks were the target of attacks by unidentified planes in the Boukamal border region after entering Syrian territory from Iraq,” said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH) director Rami Abdel Rahman. The strikes destroyed the trucks and killed or injured the occupants, he added. He did not give a specific assessment.

“The trucks were carrying Iranian weapons,” while Iran, a close ally of Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime, is providing him with military assistance in the conflict, particularly through armed groups.

Two similar convoys this week

According to the OSDH, at least two similar convoys entered Syria from Iraq this week. They offloaded the weapons to pro-Iranian groups in the city of Al-Mayadine (east). The cities of Al-Mayadine and Boukamal are in the province of Deir Ezzor, divided and controlled by various groups and factions.

Iranian regime forces, fighters and groups loyal to them control the area west of the Euphrates River, which divides the province in two. The Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the US-led international anti-jihad coalition, controls areas on its east coast.

Also read “Returnees” from Syria: “The country does not have the means to monitor them,” says Thibault de Montbrial

Iranian and Iraqi forces, as well as pro-Iranian groups including Lebanese Hezbollah, are stationed in a large area in the east of the province, particularly between Boukamal and Al-Mayadine.

The international coalition has repeatedly admitted to carrying out strikes against pro-Iranian fighters in the region. Israel, a neighboring country and enemy of Syria, has conducted multiple raids against Iranian targets on Syrian territory in recent years.

Last November, a raid targeted a convoy carrying weapons and fuel belonging to pro-Iranian militias in the Boukamal region, killing at least 14 people, according to the OSDH. The international coalition, whose members are stationed in Syria and Iraq, said it was not behind the raid, while Israel declined to comment.

Since 2011, the conflict in Syria, which involves multiple powers and armed groups, has claimed the lives of around half a million people.

It’s a very different winter from what Vladimir Putin imagined after gas supplies were cut off due to European support for Ukraine. Europe is not freezing, supplies are full and gas prices have fallen all around 55 euros/MWh, the lowest level since September 2021 (well before the Russian invasion). Things turned out very differently when compared to the worst fears of the European Union, which had been vehemently discussing the price cap that was finally set at a for months 180 euros/MWh, which is more than three times the current market price. The Kremlin’s strategy of using methane as a weapon to blackmail Europe, hit its economy, divide it and eventually force it out of Ukraine has not worked. Not only. It backfired on the strategists. Because after an initial phase in which the price explosion more than compensated for the decline in export volumes, Moscow’s revenues are falling dramatically.

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Trump assures that he will return to the political stage in 2024. Photo: AP

Donald Trump restarted his campaign this Saturday to participate in the 2024 election in two rallies, one in New Hampshire and one in South Carolina. In it, he tried to downplay voices calling for a generational change within the party or making voters weary of his character.

“Now I’m angrier and more engaged than ever!” he exclaimed in New Hampshire.

Donald Trump officially launched his campaign two months ago at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, but until now he had not held a campaign rally.

On this occasion, the former President delivered shorter speeches without appearing in front of large crowds. In the town of Salem, New Hampshire, he gave a speech in a high school auditorium. In the state of South Carolina, he appeared at the State House in the city of Columbia, accompanied by lawmakers and local leaders.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Donald TRUMP: “We will defeat the racist radical left, the perverts trying to indoctrinate our children. We will defeat the cult of gender ideology and affirm that God created two genders called males and females. pic.twitter.com/na3cZQaOyj

— Liliana Franco (@lilianaf523) January 29, 2023

One of the central themes at these rallies was immigration, an issue on which, much like he did at the start of his 2016 campaign, he again made proposals to strengthen the border. He also made fun of the government of Mexican President Andrés Manuel. Lopez Obrador. He also boasted about the pressure he allegedly put on the presidents of El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua to prevent their citizens from immigrating to the United States.

Trump is the only Republican Party representative to have stated his intention to run in the primary, despite being embroiled in various legal troubles. He faces numerous investigations, including one by a special prosecutor appointed by the Justice Department to investigate his role in the 2021 Capitol storm and possession of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago mansion.

(With agency information)