The Biden administration is reportedly moving to allow US military contractors to deploy there Ukraine to help the country maintain and repair US-provided weapons systems.
The policy is still being worked out, said four U.S. officials familiar with the matter CNNand it has not been signed by Biden.
An administration official told the outlet: “We haven't made a decision and any discussion about it is premature. The president is absolutely adamant that he will not send US troops to Ukraine.”
Officials said the change would likely be implemented this year after its approval and would allow the Pentagon to award contracts to US companies to work inside. Ukraine. This is the first time this has happened since Russia invaded the Eastern European nation in 2022.
Officials said the hope is that the move will speed up maintenance and repair of US weapons systems used by the Ukrainian military. This equipment currently has to be transported to NATO countries such as Poland or Romania to be repaired. One such system that will require periodic repairs and maintenance is the F-16 fighter jet, officials say, which will arrive in Ukraine later this year. Biden previously promised not to send fighter jets to Ukraine.
Officials reportedly began reconsidering restrictions on military contracts in the country in recent months as US funding for the war suffered setbacks in Congress and Russia made gains on the ground. An official said companies bidding for these contracts will be required to have risk mitigation plans to combat threats to their employees.
Current and former officials familiar with the discussions said the policy change would not result in the large presence of U.S. contractors seen in the Middle East, but instead between a few dozen and a few hundred contractors in Ukraine at the same time
“This would be a much more focused and thoughtful effort to support Ukraine in the country,” said one retired army officer. Alex Vindman. Vindman was the whistleblower in 2019 who released a phone call then-President Trump had with the president of Ukraine when Trump asked for details about firing a prosecutor who was investigating the energy giant Burisma, on whose board Hunter Biden sat. Joe Biden boasted that as vice president under Obama, he had withheld congressionally approved aid to Ukraine unless that prosecutor was fired. Vindman has also offered a lucrative proposal in which he would help the Ukrainian military repair US weapons.
The move comes after Biden allowed Ukraine to use US weapons to attack inside Russia. Ukraine did just that in early June, using US-made high-mobility artillery rocket systems to attack an artillery and logistics center in Russia near Ukraine's northern Kharkiv region.
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