Poroshenko: Ukrainian Armed Forces to use Javelin missiles only if provoked

May 29, 2018

Kyiv Post:

The Javelin anti-tank missile systems that Ukraine received from the United States operate under the “fire-and-forget” principle and will be used by Ukrainian military for purely defensive purposes, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

“Javelin is, first and foremost, a defensive weapon. The Ukrainian Armed Forces will use them exclusively in case of provocations or an offensive of Kremlin-controlled separatists,” Poroshenko wrote on Twitter on May 28.

As reported, in November 2017, the U.S. Senate approved the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018, which provides for the possibility of providing Ukraine with $350 million in military assistance, including the supply of lethal defensive weapons. In March 2018, the U.S. State Department approved the sale of 37 Javelin Command Launch Units and 210 Javelin missiles to Ukraine for $47 million. According to the Ukrainian side, the delivery of Javelin systems to Ukraine was secured in April on the condition that they would not be used on the contact line in the war zone in Donbas.

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