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On April 19, the leaders of the United States, Britain, and Canada pledged to send more artillery to Ukraine amid a large-scale Russian offensive in the east of the country and the entry into a new phase of the conflict.
U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters after a video conference with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and other Western leaders that artillery will be part of the next shipment of weapons that U.S. leaders plan to send to Ukraine.
According to Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, Washington is trying to focus on sending systems that Ukrainian forces could use on the battlefield almost immediately, along with equipment that does not require lengthy training.
Also on April 20, John Kirby stated that he was mistaken when he talked about providing Ukraine with the whole aircraft. On April 19, John Kirby spoke at a briefing where he stated about the supply of whole warplanes, however, he did not express himself correctly. Kirby admitted his mistake and publicly apologized. Eventually, Ukraine was supplied with aircraft components and spare parts, as well as additional equipment, which helped increase and repair the AFU air fleet.
For his part, Justin Trudeau said that Canada will also deliver heavy artillery to Ukraine – more details will be announced shortly.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, after a video conference with Joe Biden and the G7 and EU leaders, said that Germany intends to include anti-tank weapons, air defense equipment, and ammunition in its supplies to Ukraine. Heavy weapons were not mentioned by Scholz. The head of the German government and his supporters believe that the supply of such weapons is fraught with the risk of escalating the conflict and spreading it to other countries. In Germany, Scholz and the Social Democrats have already been criticized for this many times. The day before, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had also pointed out that Western assistance to Kyiv “could be stronger”.
