Biden opens door to lethal aid for Ukraine

Vice President Biden on Wednesday raised the possibility of providing lethal arms to Ukraine, calling the issue a “debate worth having.”

“Much of the debate in Washington has been focused on whether we should provide additional defensive lethal weapons to Ukraine. That’s a debate worth having and continues,” Biden said in remarks at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

“But let’s not also lose sight of the fact Ukraine also needs basic military equipment and training, which we are also providing on the ground,” Biden continued, defending the administration’s efforts. “But more [needs] to be done.”

{mosads}President Obama has so far refused to provide lethal aid to Ukraine, despite support for the idea from lawmakers in both parties. Officials say providing offensive weapons to Ukraine could further provoke Russia, which has annexed territory from its smaller neighbor and is backing separatist groups. 

In March, the administration provided armored Humvees, drones, radios and other nonlethal aid to Ukraine. But critics say Ukraine needs more offensive weapons to defeat Russian-backed rebels.

“In total, we have provided over $470 million in economic assistance since the start of the crisis,” Biden said Wednesday, noting it included nearly $200 million for Ukraine’s armed forces, national guard and border services. 

Obama met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday and is expected to discuss Russia’s moves near Ukraine during talks at the G-7 summit in Germany in early June. Russia will not attend. 

Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to “scare” the U.S. and its allies, and “rattle the cage” of the international community. 

Biden cast the Ukraine-Russia conflict as not isolated but as a fight “about the rights of nations on the frontier of Europe to choose their own futures.”

The crisis carries “consequential implications for the nature of the international order in the years to come,” Biden said. He encouraged European economic growth and less of a dependence on energy from Russia, a top natural gas provider.

U.S.-Russia tensions flared after Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, followed by the downing of a commercial jetliner in eastern Ukraine. The U.S. and its allies blamed the crash on Russian-backed separatists, but Russia has denied responsibility.