WASHINGTON – A Ukrainian delegation warned U.S. officials in Washington this week that security assistance packages are not arriving quick enough in the besieged country, a plea that comes amid Western security claims that the Kremlin will soon intensify its military campaign.

Over the last week, a delegation consisting of former military personnel, activists from Ukrainian civil society, and veterans of war met with 45 lawmakers including Nancy Pelosi, House Speaker, and representatives of the White House’s departments of State and Defense and National Security Council.

Daria Kaleniuk (director of Ukraine’s Anti-Corruption Action Center), said that “it’s the 44th and final day of war we were supposed lose on the third days.”

On Friday, she stated: “Now is the time to arm our army and our territorial defence units so that we can prevent even more deaths in innocent homes.”

Kaleniuk said that U.S. politicians and Biden administration officials had outlined several reasons for why certain weapon systems couldn’t be delivered. They cited logistics problems, lack of inventory, bureaucratic restrictions, and other limitations.

Kaleniuk stated that the six-year old boy visiting his mom’s grave outside his yard does not wish to be told about bureaucracy.

This is an exceptional situation that requires extraordinary actions. Let go of the bureaucracy. Congress is the President of the United States, and the President has enormous power. It’s possible, we know that,” she said.

Earlier in the week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also made a plea to NATO allies to catalyze the delivery of their arms commitments.

Kuleba said to reporters on April 7 at NATO headquarters, “Either we help now and I don’t mean weeks or days, or you will be too late.”

“I am certain that Ukraine will be armed with the necessary weapons to win this war. It is about the timeframe. The discussion does not concern the weapons list. This discussion is about how soon do they get them, and that is key,” he stated, noting “people are currently dying, the offensive is underway right now.”

When Kuleba was questioned about Kuleba’s comments, NATO SecretaryGeneral Jens Stoltenberg, and U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken dismissed concerns that their allies might withhold weapons requested specifically by Ukraine.

Blinken, speaking from NATO’s headquarters said that the “they are coming forward with systems that they feel would be helpful or effective”.

We brought our expertise, particularly the Pentagon’s to determine what we believe could work. He said that Ukrainians would be able to use the weapons as soon as they receive them, as well as what we have access to.

Blinken’s comments are similar to those of U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and U.S. Army Chiefs of Staff Chairman U.S. Army Gene Mark Milley. Austin and Milley said last week to Congress that some of the weapons on Ukraine’s wish lists require extensive training.

Olena Tregub (ex-director for international assistance in Ukraine at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade) stated that “our point is to give Ukraine what she needs and what it requests, period.”

Tregub declared, “We require strike drones, medium-range and long-range strike capabilities, because as we sit with you, the Russians are moving enormous columns, massive forces into the southeast Ukraine.”

According to Western intelligence, Russian forces may soon concentrate their military might in the eastern and southern Ukraine. This is after several weeks of stagnant ground advances against Kyiv.

The Russian ground forces in Ukraine have faced a series of logistical challenges over the past six week, with reports of food and fuel shortages.

Jake Sullivan, national safety advisor, said to reporters that Russia had started the war with the initial aims of seizing the capital of Kyiv. He also stated that Russia wanted to replace Zelensky’s government and take over much of Ukraine.

Sullivan claimed that U.S. officials thought the Kremlin was now changing its goals in the war.

An American Defense officer spoke under anonymity to reveal that Russian troops who were once close to Kyiv have been resupplied in Belarus with manpower.

Official said that Pentagon officials believe those troops would soon be sent back to fight in Ukraine. According to him, most of the troops are likely to move to Donbas Region, where there has been an ongoing conflict since 2014.

Maria Berlinska is a Ukrainian veteran of the military who served in Donbas. In Washington, D.C., she asked U.S. legislators for “serious weaponry,” which included medium-range surface to air missile systems, aircraft, tanks, and armored vehicles.

We are running out of ammunition. “If you don’t have ammunition, it’s impossible to do anything,” she stated. She also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military campaign will likely extend beyond Ukraine’s borders.

Berlinska who trains Ukrainian military volunteer pilots in aerial reconnaissance said that “it’s very naive for us to assume that Putin will conquer Ukraine.”

Putin won’t stop if we fail to win the war. “He has greater plans, and he must be stopped in Ukraine,” she cautioned.

The Biden administration, which was inaugurated Feb. 24, 2004, has sent more than 100,000 troops to NATO member countries. It also authorized security assistance of $1.7 billion.

NATO has also prepared more than 140 warships, as well as 130 aircraft for heightened alert. NATO warned Putin repeatedly that any attack against a NATO member will be considered an attack on everyone, prompting Article 5 as the core of NATO’s foundation.

Ukraine is bordered on four sides by NATO members: Poland (Slovakia, Hungary, Romania) and Slovakia (Hungary). Ukraine applied for NATO membership in 2002. The majority of troops in the alliance’s 30-member members are currently based in Poland, which has so far received the largest number of refugees fleeing Putin’s regime.

“I believe we have proven to the world we won’t surrender. We know there will be concentration camps if we give up,” he said. Kaleniuk, Anti-Corruption Action Center Director said that Putin has not hidden what he plans to do with Ukrainians.

“It’s genocide. It’s the extermination of an entire nation. And I’m certainly not exaggerating,” she said.

According to the UN, there have been 1,793 deaths of civilians and 2,439 injuries since Russia invaded Ukraine’s ex-Soviet neighbour on February 24.