Jake Sullivan, the White House’s national security adviser, said the intelligence received by the US supported views that Russia’s heavy bombing of Ukraine, which has led it to consolidate gains in the east of the country in recent weeks, “is costing the preservation of its own weapons’. “The Iranian government is preparing to provide Russia with up to several hundred UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles]including weapon-capable UAVs, on an accelerated schedule,” Sullivan said. “Our information further indicates that Iran is preparing to train Russian forces to use these UAVs, with initial training sessions scheduled to begin in early July.” Sullivan said it was unclear whether Iran had yet delivered any of the drones to Russia. He noted that Iran’s drones had been used by Houthi rebels in Yemen to attack Saudi Arabia. Drones have played a critical role on both sides of the war in Ukraine, for everything from remotely launching missiles, dropping small bombs on targets, conducting reconnaissance for artillery forces and ground troops. Ukrainian forces have had particular success using Turkish-made armed Bayraktar combat UAVs, and the US and other allies have supplied Kyiv with several types of smaller drones. “From our perspective, we will continue to do our part to help maintain Ukraine’s effective defense and help the Ukrainians show that the Russian effort to try to wipe Ukraine off the map cannot succeed,” he said. Sullivan. Sullivan’s revelation comes on the eve of President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, where Iran’s nuclear program and malign activities in the region will be a key topic of discussion. The US decision to publicly reveal that the two countries’ main regional rival was helping Russia rearm comes as both Israel and Saudi Arabia resist global efforts to punish Russia for its invasion of Ukraine because of their domestic interests. Russia’s offensive in eastern Ukraine looks set to continue despite stiff Ukrainian resistance bolstered by recent deliveries of Western-supplied artillery, with the Ukrainian military warning that Russian troops were likely planning to launch some of their fiercest attacks in the Donetsk region. . With no end in sight to the fighting, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said during a visit to Kyiv that his country would supply Ukraine with more long-range artillery and an aid package worth 200 million euros ($201 million). Western weapons – particularly precision, long-range artillery – were “already changing the course of the war,” Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said on Monday.
