The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said 155 mm artillery shells and GMLRS (mobile rocket artillery) missiles were now being provided to Ukraine. The officials did not say how many weapons were being sent and whether the shipment was complete. It was also unclear why the latest shipments only included shells and artillery missiles and whether any decision had been made to resume shipments of other weapons.
The reduction in Patriot missiles is definitely a backhanded insult, but what matters is the 155mm shells, the fact that for now that delivery isn’t disturbed means that Trump is at some level unwilling to really help Putin win the war at the pace he needs too. That is the answer to the question the article asks as well, the reason only the 155mm artillery shells are being delivered is because clearly that is what the relevant military people involved insisted on being necessary for aid to Ukraine, everything else could be cut even though it still hurt badly but the 155mm shells were a red line, if you don’t listen to any of my ranting about artillery at least notice that.
In order for Putin to win, Ukraine needs to be desperately running out of 155mm artillery needed to hold back the Russian infantry advances across open terrain right now or else Putin will just break the Russian army upon the shores of devastating defensive artillery fire.
If you see Trump stop the 155mm shell deliveries than take this more as an existential threat, but even then European powers have already seen that they can’t rely on the US to provide the bulk of Ukrane’s 155mm artillery production and are taking steps to close that vulnerability.
I think the window for Putin to strike decisively has closed, from a logistics standpoint Russia can no longer assume the kind of dominance it would need to sustain this massively costly of an offensive for any serious length of time without being crushed. I think they are just counting on the rest of the world not realizing it long enough to accomplish their objectives.
(GMLRS are usually referred to as HIMARS)
Witholding Patriot, which defends against various aerial attacks, increases the danger for civilians. That’s not nice. I know the missiles are expensive, but human lives are worth the expense.
Agreed!