President Joe Biden said Monday that the United States would send nearly $2.5 billion more in weapons to Ukraine as his administration works quickly to spend whatever money it has to help kyiv fight Russia before the president is elected Donald Trump takes office.
The package includes $1.25 billion in presidential drawdown authorization, which allows the military to remove existing stockpiles from its shelves and move weapons to the battlefield more quickly. It also has $1.22 billion in longer-term weapons that will be put under contract under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, or USAI.
Biden said all of USAI’s long-term funds have now been spent and that he seeks to fully utilize any remaining money before leaving office.
“I have directed my administration to continue providing as much aid as possible to Ukraine as quickly as possible,” Biden said in a statement. “Under my leadership, the United States will continue to work tirelessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in this war during the remainder of my term.”
In addition to arms support, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Monday that the United States will also provide $3.4 billion in economic aid to Ukraine to help finance essential government services as part of its ongoing fight against Russia. The money will be used to pay the salaries of civilian government and school employees, health care workers and first responders.
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The new military aid comes as Russia has launched a series of attacks on Ukrainian power facilities in recent days, although Ukraine said it had intercepted a significant number of missiles and drones. Russian and Ukrainian forces are also still engaged in a fierce battle around the Russian border region of Kursk, where Moscow has sent thousands of North Korean troops to help reconquer territories conquered by Ukraine.
The Biden administration is pushing for weapons to be brought into Ukraine to give kyiv the strongest possible negotiating position before Trump’s inauguration on January 20. Trump spoke of securing some sort of negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Many U.S. and European leaders worry that Trump’s talk of a settlement will result in a poor deal for Ukraine, and worry that he will not provide Ukraine with all the arms funding approved by Congress.
Weapon systems removed from existing stockpiles through this latest weapons package include Unmanned Aerial Systems Munitions, Air Defense Munitions, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) Munitions, 155 mm and 105 mm artillery, air-to-ground ammunition, anti-ground ammunition. -armor systems, tube-launched missiles, fragmentation grenades and other items and spare parts.
Including Monday’s announcement, the United States has provided more than $65 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
