West ramps up Ukraine weapons as war expectations shift

Ukraine’s military successes against Russia have transformed calculations in Washington and other Western capitals, leading to a sharp increase in military help for Kyiv as a war that started with Western efforts at damage control has become one that offers a strategic opportunity to constrain Russia’s expansionist ambitions…

After initially planning for supporting an insurgency, Western governments now see a realistic prospect of Ukrainian success that pushes Russia farther out of Ukrainian territory and deters Moscow from future landgrabs, an outcome that would be a strategic win for the West…

“It’s a continuation, not an escalation,” a senior U.S. defense official told reporters Thursday. “There is no change to the president’s policy of no U.S. forces fighting in Ukraine and no change to our policy with respect to a no-fly zone.”