The Pentagon and American intelligence agencies are developing plans that would enable the US to provide specific locations of deadly surface-to-air missiles with pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine that could be targeted and destroyed by the Ukrainian Government, according to a media report.
Since the downing of Flight MH17 on July 17, the flow of heavy arms into eastern Ukraine has drastically increased, the Pentagon and the State Department said, citing American intelligence reports. But the proposal to supply Ukraine with specific locations of surface-to-air missiles has not yet been debated in the White House, a senior administration official was quoted as saying by The New York Times.
“It is unclear whether President Obama, who has already approved limited intelligence sharing with Ukraine, will agree to give more precise information about potential military targets, a step that would involve the United States more deeply in the conflict,” the report said.
Already, the question of what kind of intelligence support to give the Ukrainian Government has become part of a larger debate within the administration about how directly to confront President Vladimir Putin of Russia and how big a role Washington should take in trying to stop Russia’s rapid delivery of powerful weapons to eastern Ukraine, it said.
The United States on Sunday released satellite images to bolster its claim that Russian artillery has fired across the border into Ukraine, targeting Government forces in support of separatist rebels.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian armed forces mounted a major onslaught against pro-Russian separatist fighters on Sunday in an attempt to gain control over the area where a Malaysia Airlines plane was downed earlier this month.