‘We need it to be faster’, says Ukrainian ambassador on arms shipments

Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States on Sunday urged American leaders to accelerate arms and aid shipments to the country as it struggles to defend itself against the Russian military.

“There is no such thing as fast enough when we face such a bad enemy and have to recover for a long break,” Ambassador Oksana Markarova said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” with Margaret Brennan. “We need it to be faster.”

Ukrainian leaders waited for months with bated breath as Congress debated the latest aid package for the war-torn country. The $61 billion package ended a months-long impasse that divided House Republicans.

Russian forces have gained momentum in Ukraine in recent months as American and European supplies dwindle. Air strikes intensified on the front lines and in large cities such as Kharkiv, the country’s second largest.

Air defense systems are Ukraine’s greatest need, Markarova said.

“We are very grateful to those who are providing us with their systems,” she said. “We are grateful to the US for seeking them out, enabling them and funding some of them, but we need more and it is time to literally make some bold decisions and provide us with more of this so that we can see them right away, where we need them.”

The comments come as Ukraine urges the US to allow the use of US-made weapons on Russian soil, a hard line set as a condition of aid. Many of the attacks against Kharkiv originate in Russia, and Ukraine has been prevented from carrying out attacks inside Russia using American weapons due to American fears of an escalation in the conflict.

“It’s like someone attacked Washington, D.C., from the state of Virginia, and you said we’re not going to attack Virginia for some reason,” Ukrainian lawmaker David Arahamiya said last week during a visit to Washington.

Markarova did not go as far as Arahamiya, but signaled that there have been discussions about lifting restrictions.

“We are defending ourselves, whether we are attacking Russian troops on our territory or Russian troops outside our territory. And we have tried to do that,” she said. “But of course there were some restrictions.”

“Now I will not publicly enter into discussions – where we are in discussions with the US or with any of our other partners,” she continued. “But I just want to say that it’s clear that Russia is an aggressor here.”

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story