Ukraine's top national security official asked earlier this month for the U.S. to go beyond traditional military aid and provide the country with the funding, training and weaponry to support a long-term resistance movement, according to a letter obtained by Axios.
Why it matters: Russia's advances on the battlefield have largely stalled, prompting fears of a long, grinding war of attrition. Ukraine is seeking more formal and robust backing for its whole-of-society defense against Russia.
- The latest package of $800 million in U.S. military aid includes rifles and pistols for possible civilian use, but the bulk of the weaponry is for official military operations.
- The letter was addressed to national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and CIA director Bill Burns, but Axios could not independently confirm it was received by their agencies.
- An NSC spokesperson told Axios: "We are in regular contact with the Ukrainian government, but have no record of receiving this letter and have not confirmed its authenticity."
Context: Ukraine's parliament last year codified a plan to fight back against a potential Russian invasion and occupation with its Law on the Fundamentals of National Resistance. It came into effect Jan. 1.
- The law sets out the role of the Territorial Defense Forces, a reserve unit that supports the military, as well as irregular partisan forces and local volunteer formations comprised of civilians.
- If necessary, the law would "allow for the involvement of the entire population of Ukraine in the protection of their homeland, their land and their families," Maria Mezentseva, a Ukrainian member of Parliament, tells Axios.
Driving the news: The letter was dated March 6 and signed by Oleksiy Danilov, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council secretary.
- It asked the U.S. "to allocate additional funds for the organization of the resistance movement and voluntary formations of territorial communities throughout Ukraine."
- Danilov said Ukraine needs "additional supplies of weapons to defeat the enemy, training materials and training of experienced instructors."
- Axios obtained the letter from a reliable source in direct contact with the Zelensky administration.
Between the lines: Throughout the current crisis, the Biden administration's policies toward arming Ukraine have been colored by legal concerns over whether certain actions could make the U.S. a "co-combatant" in the war against Russia.
- The administration has attempted to walk a careful line by claiming it's providing Ukraine with "defensive" but not "offensive" weapons and "real-time" but not lethal "targeting" intelligence.
- Some advocates for a less cautious approach point to the fact that Biden is now supplying Ukraine with drones, anti-aircraft systems and other sophisticated weaponry to argue the U.S. is clearly involved in the war.
- That, in turn, means it should do everything short of U.S. troops on the ground to help Ukraine, they say.
Training and equipping guerrilla forces in an active war zone, however, would cross a new threshold.
- Politico reported this week the White House scrapped a plan in December to send a few hundred additional U.S. special operations troops to Ukraine to "provide military advice and training on unconventional warfare." The fear was it would escalate tensions.
- Ezra Cohen, a former top Pentagon official in the Trump administration who specialized in intelligence and special operations, told Axios the president would need to seek congressional authorization to provide weapons to Ukrainian forces not part of the regular military command.
What to watch: Senate Republicans have proposed a $500 million "Ukraine Resistance Fund, which would authorize U.S. assistance to both Ukrainian security forces and "appropriately vetted Ukrainian groups and individuals" involved in defending the country.
- A number of Democrats have expressed support for arming a long-term resistance, though the staunch fight Ukraine has already put up through three weeks of war may ultimately make that unnecessary.
- "We have to be cognizant of striking the balance between preparing for next steps and setting in place the framework now, while also not neglecting the conventional fight that's going on as we speak," a Senate aide told Axios.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comment from an NSC spokesperson.
