Putin gets what he didn’t want: Ukraine army closer to West

By ROBERT BURNS
AP National Security Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The longer Ukraine’s army fends off the invading Russians, the more it absorbs the advantages of Western weaponry and training. Military experts say that’s the transformation Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to prevent by invading Ukraine in the first place. The list of arms flowing to Ukraine is long and growing longer. It includes the newest American battlefield aerial drones and the most modern U.S. and Canadian artillery. There are anti-tank weapons from Norway and others; armored vehicles and anti-ship missiles from Britain; Stinger counter-air missiles from the U.S., Denmark and other countries. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin convened a meeting Tuesday in Germany to work out ways to keep the military aid supply going.