American Javelin ATGMs are provided to Ukraine free of charge, and therefore certain restrictions are imposed on their use.
Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States Valeriy Chaly stated this in an interview with Evropeyskaya Pravda, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“Now they give us Javelin anti-tank systems for free. As part of the internal procedures of the Pentagon-Congress, their cost is calculated at a certain figure - $41,7 million, but this is irrevocable assistance. And there is one point. When you receive a weapon for free, conditions are imposed on its use. I won’t reveal the details, but we cannot send Javelins into battle at our own discretion. And if we ourselves bought these complexes, we would not need to consult how and when to use them,” the diplomat said.
He added that he does not know whether Ukraine should buy Javelins specifically - they say the military should decide, but he believes that the Americans will not refuse if there is such a request.
“No matter what anyone says that we need to use ours, there are types of weapons that we need and that we do not produce. For example, we have Stugna, which in some respects is better than the Javelin, but in others it is worse, and a combination of them is needed.
We have already bought sniper systems from the Americans; we do not have such systems today. This is the first major commercial contract with the US, and it is also a line that should be. We are already thinking forward about both the air defense system and the component of maritime space control,” Chaly shared his thoughts.