US Department of State gives reasons why Ukraine's skies not protected in same way as Israel's

17.04.2024, 18:23 ukranews.com

Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said this at a briefing on April 16.

In particular, he said that he understood the comments of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who expressed misunderstanding why Western NATO allies shot down Iranian missiles and drones, while they were afraid to do the same in Ukraine.

"I would think that the President of any country under such debilitating attacks would look for any way possible to protect his people. I completely understand that," Miller said.

At the same time, Miller noted that the US has "absolutely different relations with Ukraine and Israel."

"We have a decades-long security partnership with Israel, where we have provided them with direct military assistance - not just during the two years of the conflict, but for decades - and we have a long, broad relationship between our military and the Israeli military that goes back decades," the spokesman said.

Israel is the main ally of the United States outside NATO, Miller added, and Ukraine is in a different position. "We did not have such an agreement (on the status of the main ally outside NATO, - ed.) with them (Ukrainians) a few months before this conflict," Miller noted.

He added that the US provides Ukraine with the equipment it needs to protect the sky, and this includes, among other things, Patriot anti-aircraft systems and other air defense systems.

"That being said, you are correct that we are not in an armed military conflict with russia that would require American aircraft to be in the skies over Ukraine in response to russian attacks. And we are not going to enter into a direct armed conflict with russia. The President of the United States has made that very clear," Miller said.

The spokesman noted that it is in the interests of the American people to prevent a direct armed conflict between the United States and russia, because "we do not want the Third World War."

"If you want to ask the question of what else we can do, that question should be asked of the United States Congress - because we have a supplemental spending bill that will allow us to provide more equipment to Ukraine ... and we hope that this bill will be adopted," Miller summarized.

We will remind you that earlier the USA explained why they will not shoot down drones over Ukraine, as in Israel.

Borrell also explained why aerial targets cannot be shot down over Ukraine, as was the case in Israel.