As the West announced additional military aid to Ukraine, former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal said that Washington's "deep involvement" in the Eastern European country is "clear".
"US deep involvement in Ukraine is clear from this staggering amount of military and civilian aid to it. Ukraine is being encouraged to resist without thought to the costs for its people. And Europe which has to live with Russia next door", Sibal said. "Hatred of Putin and Russia is not geopolitics. Neutrality is not a sin. Russia aside, the long-term cost to the West will be severe too. No winners".
The US Congress has approved a $13.6 billion emergency military and humanitarian aid package for Ukraine and its European allies.
The funding, yet to be approved by US President Joe Biden, would provide "weapons transfers" of Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.
President Biden reaffirmed on Thursday that the US and its NATO allies will make sure Ukraine has "weapons to defend against an invading Russian force".
The US has sent more than $1 billion in security assistance and military aid to Ukraine during the past year.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he had "cooled down regarding the question of NATO membership for his country".
On 24 February, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine following a request for help from the Donbass republics, which he had recognised a few days prior. Putin stressed that the op was meant to demilitarise and "de-Nazify" Ukraine, with the Kremlin later saying that the country's neutral and non-nuclear status was on the agenda too. Russia has also pointed out that the US and its allies have ignored Moscow's long-standing demand to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and provide the nation with security guarantees. The West has since introduced several batches of sanctions against Russia, dubbing the special op an "invasion".
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