China has already decided to provide Russia with economic and financial support during its war on Ukraine and is contemplating sending military supplies such as armed drones, US officials fear.

The US national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, laid out the US case against Russia’s invasion in an “intense” seven-hour meeting in Rome with his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, pointing out that Moscow had feigned interest in diplomacy while preparing for invasion, and also that the Russian military was clearly showing signs of frailty.

The Kyiv Independent
@KyivIndependent
⚡️ Financial Times: China poised to help Russia.

FT quoted unnamed officials, writing that “the U.S. has told allies that China signaled its willingness to provide military assistance to Russia to support its invasion of Ukraine.”
11:16 AM · Mar 14, 2022

As Moscow thrashes about in Ukraine, unable to unwind an increasingly disastrous invasion, the situation is bleak for Ukraine’s non-combatant civilian population. Ceasefires on the ground to allow civilian passage out of Mariupol and Volnovakha have collapsed. With nothing on the horizon to relieve the situation, one humanitarian option is to establish a set of secure life-saving air corridors within Ukraine.

Time is of the essence. Within days, the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine will be intolerable.

In Europe, secure air corridors have been used for humanitarian purposes before. The United States, Britain and France employed humanitarian air corridors in 1948 and 1949, after the Soviet Union began a blockade of Berlin. The Berlin Airlift used three contested air corridors to resupply the besieged German city.

The Kyiv Independent
@KyivIndependent
⚡️ Stoltenberg warns Russia against attacks on arms supply to Ukraine.

“If there is any attack against any NATO country, NATO territory, that will trigger Article 5,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
6:22 AM · Mar 9, 2022

Provide US A-10 ground-attack aircraft – currently scheduled to be mothballed – to Ukraine as Excess Defense Articles. Thanks to prior military exchange programs, Ukraine already has a small number of pilots trained to fly the A-10. If spare parts and maintenance are required, use part of the US $1bn funding to allow Ukraine to hire private contractors, rather than involving US personnel directly.

President Zelenskyy has repeatedly made the same request: help Ukraine equalize its air power disadvantage. This may be a protracted war. Joined fellow @usairforce vet @RepHoulahan in urging @SecAFOfficial to immediately explore transferring US air assets to #Ukraine. Our letter: