As the U.S. seeks ways to help Kyiv fight Russia, the Biden administration is moving toward lifting a de facto ban on American military contractors deploying to Ukraine, four U.S. officials told CNN on Tuesday.
The move would allow the Pentagon to provide contracts to American companies for work inside Ukraine for the first time since Russia invaded in 2022, in the hope it will speed up the maintenance and repairs of weapons systems being used by the Ukrainian military.
However, officials said the policy is still being worked on and has not received approval from President Joe Biden, with one official stating that "the president is absolutely firm that he will not be sending U.S. troops to Ukraine."
Biden has insisted that all Americans, including U.S. troops, stay far away from the Ukrainian front lines since the war began, with the White House determined to limit both the danger to Americans and the perception, particularly by Russia, that the U.S. military is engaged in combat there.
Due to this, American-provided military equipment that has been significantly damaged in combat has had to be transported out of the country for repairs elsewhere, a process which takes time.
U.S. troops are also available to aid the Ukrainians with more routine maintenance and logistics, but only from afar by video chat or secure phone — an arrangement that has limitations, since American troops and contractors can't work directly on the systems.
But as Russia continues to make gains on the battlefield, White House officials started to seriously reconsider those restrictions during the last several months, officials said.
Current and former officials emphasized that any policy change would likely result in at most a few hundred contractors working in Ukraine at a time, unlike the overwhelming such presence that existed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"This would be a much more focused and thoughtful effort to support Ukraine," said retired Army officer Alexander Vindman, who served as the director for European Affairs on former President Donald Trump's National Security Council.
He added that the Biden administration has been working on a plan to ease the restrictions since earlier this year.
Vindman stressed to CNN that "Ukraine is an ally, the U.S. has keen, critical, national security interests in supporting Ukraine, and there are plenty of risk mitigation measures."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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