New US military command for Ukraine aims for long-term goals
The Pentagon is moving ahead with the formation of its new military command, based in Europe, designed to "oversee and facilitate" military assistance to Ukraine. The first details about the tasks of this structure, so far called the Security Assistance Group of Ukraine (SAGU), have appeared. It will be based at the headquarters of the US Army Joint Command Europe and Africa in Wiesbaden (Germany).
The new US Army command to oversee Ukraine will have about 300 US troops. Under his command, apparently, will be the logistics group of weapons, which in August was transferred to Wiesbaden from the headquarters of the US European Command in Stuttgart.
This group also includes representatives from dozens of countries and organizes the logistics of delivering all weapons, from Stinger missiles and howitzers to drones and long-range artillery, to secret places on the territory of Ukraine
- writes the military publication Stars & Stripes. Earlier it was reported there:
Thousands of American soldiers currently stationed at training grounds in Poland and Romania...may be included in the plans
Now, according to Stars & Stripes, the new command is expected to focus on larger military missions:
By creating a dedicated headquarters focused on supporting Ukraine, the Pentagon is building an organization to carry out what is expected to be a long-term mission. It is planned that the headquarters in Wiesbaden will be staffed by personnel from different branches of the military ... Rotational periods of military presence are supposed to be deployed for a period of six months to a year, but longer business trips are possible
Stars & Stripes points out.
The U.S. government has now provided more than $18 billion worth of weapons to Ukraine, and Washington officials are saying they will continue military aid to Kyiv in comparable amounts. Analysts at the Quincy Institute believe that the creation of the new command signals that the Western powers, led by the US, have much bigger goals.
This is definitely a sign that the US is preparing for a long war in Ukraine and a long-term military rivalry with Russia. It is hardly necessary to put 3-star generals in charge just to track the flow of weapons in Ukraine
- says expert George Beebe.
In his opinion, it is highly significant that the leadership of SAGU will include at least two generals with three stars. It is already known that the commander of the 18th Airborne Corps, Lieutenant General Christopher Donahue, will remain in Wiesbaden. In addition, according to The New York Times, Lieutenant General Antonio Aguto Jr., now commander of the US First Army, is being considered as the main candidate for the head of SAGU.
Experts from the Quincy Institute note that such high-profile appointments to SAGU give the appropriate "signal to Moscow" and equally to European NATO allies.
This indicates that Ukraine is going to be made an “important non-NATO ally” and dependent directly on the US, and that the US will try to set up the entire European security structure around support for Ukraine and hostility towards Russia.
- explains the expert Anatol Lieven.
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