Who was arming Ukraine by 20 January 2022?

Who was supplying Ukraine's military as the crisis with Russia deepened? On 20 January 2022, the U.S. State Department approved the delivery of U.S.-made weapons systems from the Baltic states to Ukraine, including FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missiles and FIM-92 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

A widening supply chain

The approval came a day after reports that the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force was continuing flights to Ukraine delivering "thousands" of MBT LAW anti-tank missiles to the Ukrainian military. Russia responded on 19 January by accusing Britain of "fuelling the crisis" by sending lethal weapons to Ukraine.

Taken together, the two moves showed arms reaching Ukraine along more than one route: directly from the United Kingdom, and, with Washington's approval, from Baltic states holding U.S.-made systems. The systems named were anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Diplomacy and warnings

On 19 January, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv for a one-day visit, described as a show of support for Ukraine, and was to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki had said the day before that Russia could at any point launch an attack on Ukraine and that no option was off the table.

The same day, US President Joe Biden said a full-scale Russian invasion would bring a more severe penalty than a "minor incursion", and predicted that Russian President Vladimir Putin would move on Ukraine because he had to do something.

A regional dimension

The concern was not confined to Ukraine. On 19 January, Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas warned that the presence of Russian troops in Belarus posed a "direct threat" to Lithuania. That placed a Baltic state, which was also a point of origin for the newly approved weapons transfers, among those voicing alarm about Russian deployments.

What the day showed

By 20 January 2022, the public record showed three things side by side: Western governments openly moving lethal equipment towards Ukraine, Moscow publicly objecting to such deliveries, and officials in Washington and Vilnius warning of the risk of further Russian military action. Each step was reported separately, but they unfolded within roughly 48 hours of one another.