U.S. to Ukraine: “We Want to Avoid WWIII”

The Department of State responded to Kyiv’s question why the USA cannot provide Ukraine with the same protection as Israel. The Department of State said that the USA cannot take Ukraine under the protection of its air defense because it is not in an armed conflict with Russia and does not want it to happen. “We don’t want World War III,” department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters. Earlier, Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, questioned why the U.S. helped Israel defend itself against an Iranian attack last weekend but cannot do the same for Ukraine. “We are not in an armed conflict with Russia, which would require U.S. aircraft to be in the skies over Ukraine repelling Russian attacks, Miller said. - And we are not going to engage in direct armed conflict with Russia.” “The president of the United States has made that very clear”, Miller added. “I think it’s in the interest of the American people that we stay away from direct armed conflict between the United States and Russia, because we don’t want World War III.” Miller noted that despite this, the US remains fully committed to the defense of Ukraine. “We’ve proven that over the last two years. The president proved it by providing American assistance, Miller pointed out. - And if you’re asking what more can be done, the question should be addressed to the U.S. Congress, because we have a bill for additional funding that will allow us to provide Ukraine with more equipment, including the air defense systems it needs. We hope this bill will be passed.” The Department of State spokesman stressed that the USA has “rather different relations with Ukraine and Israel”. “Our security partnership with Israel goes back decades. We have provided direct military assistance to them not just for two years of conflict, but for decades, and we have long, extensive ties between our military and Israel’s military that last for decades,” Miller claimed. He recalled that Israel is an important non-NATO ally of the US. “The situation with Ukraine is different because we did not have such an agreement with it months before this conflict,” Miller explained.