US approves $2.6 billion helicopter sale to Norway
'The proposed sale will improve Norway's capability to meet current and future threats by increasing its airborne combat and special operations capabilities,' the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said in a statement.
'Norway will use these aircraft to defend other NATO members and its allies. Norway will have no difficulty absorbing these articles and services into its armed forces,' it added.
The State Department approved the possible sale, and the DSCA on Friday provided the required notification to the US Congress, which still needs to sign off on the transaction.
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Asharq Al-Awsat
39 minutes ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Ukraine to Boost Domestic Arms Production to Counter Russia's Invasion, Says Zelensky
A new Ukrainian government approved Thursday will race to expand domestic arms production to meet half the country's weapons needs within six months as it tries to push back Russia's invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Meanwhile, Switzerland said Thursday that the US Defense Department had informed it that Washington is diverting a Swiss order for Patriot air defense systems to help Ukraine, which badly needs to improve its response to increasingly heavy Russian aerial attacks. Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine The Swiss Defense Ministry, which in 2022 ordered five Patriot systems, said Thursday it has been informed by the US Defense Department that it will 'reprioritize the delivery of Patriot systems to support Ukraine.' It was not immediately clear whether the Swiss-ordered Patriots would go directly to Ukraine or would replace units in other European countries that may be donated to Kyiv, The AP news reported. Delivery to Switzerland of the systems, worth billions of dollars, was scheduled to begin in 2027 and be completed in 2028. But the Swiss government said Washington informed it of the delay on Wednesday, adding that it was unclear how many systems would be affected. The need to adequately arm Ukraine's military is pressing as Russia looks to drive forward its summer offensive after three years of war and pounds Ukrainian cities with hundreds of drones and ballistic and cruise missiles. It remains unclear when the promised US-made weapons, especially the Patriot systems, might reach Ukraine. Trump has agreed to send the weaponry, but it will be paid for by European countries. No timeframe for foreign weapons in Ukraine The US Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, said he couldn't give a timeframe for when Ukraine might get extra foreign weapons. 'We are all moving with haste to facilitate this and get this done. Things are actually moving very quickly, but I can't verify a date that this will all be completed. I think it's going to be an ongoing movement,' he told reporters in Brussels. 'The plan is that there will be American-made defense equipment, capabilities, that will be sold to our European allies, that they will provide to Ukraine,' he said. British Defense Secretary John Healey said Thursday he and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius will chair a meeting of Ukraine's allies on Monday to discuss US President Donald Trump's weapons plans. Healey said US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and NATO leader Mark Rutte will attend the meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group. NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, told The Associated Press Thursday that 'preparations are underway' for weapons transfers to Ukraine and that NATO is working 'very closely' with Germany to transfer Patriot systems. Grynkewich said at a military event in Wiesbaden, Germany, that he had been ordered to 'move (the weapons) out as quickly as possible.' He said the number of weapons being transferred is classified. German Defense Ministry spokesperson Mitko Müller said Wednesday he couldn't confirm that anything is currently on its way to Ukraine. Rutte, the NATO chief, said in Washington on Monday that the alliance is coordinating the military support with funding from allies in Europe and Canada. He said there were commitments from Germany, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Canada, 'with more expected to follow.' Ukraine now makes 40% of its own weapons Ukraine's domestic defense manufacturing already accounts for almost 40% of weapons used by the Ukrainian military, according to Zelensky. As uncertainty grows about how many more weapons shipments Western countries can provide — and how quickly — Ukraine is keen to increase its output and widen its strikes on Russian soil. 'What we need is greater capacity to push the war back onto Russia's territory — back to where the war was brought from," Zelensky said late Wednesday in his nightly video address. 'We must reach the level of 50% Ukrainian-made weapons within the first six months of the new government's work by expanding our domestic production.' Ukraine has also developed its own long-range drones, which it uses to strike deep inside Russia . Russian air defenses shot down 122 Ukrainian drones overnight, the country's defense ministry said Thursday. The wave of drones caused flights to be grounded at airports in Moscow and St. Petersburg, although most of the drones were reportedly destroyed over the border regions of Bryansk and Kursk. Meanwhile, Russia attacked Ukraine with 64 Shahed and decoy drones overnight, killing at least one person, the Ukrainian air force reported. The assault centered on the industrial Dnipropetrovsk region, officials said. In other developments: Russia on Thursday sent to Ukraine 1,000 bodies, including some of the country's fallen soldiers, the Ukrainian Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said. At the same time, Russia received the bodies of 19 soldiers, Russian presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky said. The exchange was part of a deal reached at direct peace talks last May and June that produced few other agreements between the sides.
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Russia says Trump's new weapons pledge a signal for Ukraine to abandon peace efforts
MOSCOW: US President Donald Trump's decision to ramp up arms shipments to Ukraine is a signal to Kyiv to abandon peace efforts, Russia said on Thursday, vowing it would not accept the 'blackmail' of Washington's new sanctions ultimatum. Trump announced a toughened stance on Russia's war in Ukraine on Monday, setting a 50-day deadline for Moscow to reach a ceasefire or face sanctions. The US also promised more missiles and other weaponry for Kyiv. Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, condemned the move. 'It is obvious that the Kyiv regime consistently perceives such decisions by the collective West as a signal to continue the slaughter and abandon the peace process,' Zakharova told a news briefing in Moscow. Russia's all-out war against Ukraine in February, 2022, has led to Europe's bloodiest conflict since World War Two, with the United States estimating that 1.2 million people have been injured or killed. Moscow says it was forced to launch the war to protect itself from an expanding NATO. Ukraine and most Western governments call Russia's war a colonial-style land grab. Russian forces now control around one fifth of Ukrainian territory and are slowly but steadily advancing across a vast frontline, sustaining what the US believes are heavy losses along the way. Trump, who has made ending the conflict a priority of his administration, is threatening '100 percent tariffs on Russia' and secondary sanctions on countries that buy Russian oil if Moscow does not agree to a ceasefire deal by his 50-day deadline. 'An unprecedented number of sanctions and restrictions have been imposed on our country and our international partners. There are so many of them that we view the threat of new sanctions as mundane,' Zakharova said. 'The language of ultimatums, blackmail, and threats is unacceptable to us. We will take all necessary steps to ensure the security and protect the interests of our country.' 'PROXY WAR' Both Russia's President Vladimir Putin and Trump have repeatedly cautioned over the escalatory risks of the conflict, which they cast as a proxy war between the world's two biggest nuclear powers. US efforts to broker peace negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow, however, have faced repeated setbacks. Russia says it is ready to hold further talks, but has made it clear it wants all of the territory of four Ukrainian regions it has claimed as its own — terms which Ukraine say are unacceptable and would amount to a capitulation. Moscow is also keen to revive its battered bilateral relationship with the United States if possible, though Trump's latest moves on Ukraine have soured the atmosphere. Trump said on Monday that he was 'very unhappy' and 'disappointed' with Putin and cast his decision to send more arms to Ukraine as intended to jolt Russia toward peace. Reuters reported on Tuesday that Putin intends to keep fighting in Ukraine until the West engages on his terms for peace, unfazed by threats of tougher sanctions, and that his territorial demands may widen as Russian forces advance. Earlier on Thursday, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia had no plans to attack NATO or Europe. But he said it should respond and, if necessary, launch preemptive strikes if it believed the West was escalating what he cast as its full-scale war against Russia. 'We need to act accordingly. To respond in full. And if necessary, launch preemptive strikes,' Medvedev was quoted as saying. The remarks by Medvedev, reported in full by the TASS state news agency, indicate that Moscow sees the confrontation with the West over Ukraine escalating after Trump's latest decisions. 'What is happening today is a proxy war, but in essence it is a full-scale war (launches of Western missiles, satellite intelligence, etc.), sanctions packages, loud statements about the militarization of Europe,' Medvedev said, according to TASS.
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Russia jails major general for six years over fraud at military theme park
Major General Vladimir Shesterov was detained last August for his role in the scheme at the Patriot ParkThe scandal at Patriot Park is one in a slew of criminal cases against former top officialsMOSCOW: A senior Russian Defense Ministry official was sentenced to six years in prison on Thursday after being found guilty of fraud and forgery in relation to an embezzlement scheme at a military theme park, the RIA state news agency General Vladimir Shesterov was detained last August for his role in the scheme at the Patriot Park, a war-themed tourist attraction outside Moscow. Two other men, including Pavel Popov, a former deputy defense minister, are also facing citing the investigation materials, said Shesterov and the ex-director of the park, Vyacheslav Akhmedov, who is also in custody, forged documents related to completed construction work at the park in the amount of some 26 million roubles ($332,000).The scandal at Patriot Park is one in a slew of criminal cases against former top officials that have engulfed the Russian army in recent fully admitted guilt, but insisted he had not received any material benefit from the scheme.'I am to blame, I don't whitewash myself, I sincerely repent,' he said in court, according to has also entered a guilty plea in his case against Popov, the former deputy defense minister, is ongoing. RIA reported that Popov had instructed Shesterov and Akhmedov to build him a two-story house, a guest house with a sauna, and a two-story garage on land Popov owned in the Moscow region — with the Defense Ministry footing the has previously denied wrongdoing. Reuters was unable to contact his lawyer on Park displays a vast collection of Russian and Soviet weaponry, and offers visitors the chance to clamber on tanks and take part in combat simulations. On its website, it also features a photo gallery of 'heroes of the special military operation' — Russia's official term for its war in Ukraine.
