WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden stated Monday that america will ship almost $2.5 billion extra in weapons to Ukraine as his administration works quickly to spend all the cash it has out there to assist Kyiv combat off Russia earlier than President-elect Donald Trump takes workplace.
The package deal contains $1.25 billion in presidential drawdown authority, which permits the navy to tug present inventory from its cabinets and will get weapons to the battlefield sooner. It additionally has $1.22 billion in longer-term weapons packages to be placed on contract by the separate Ukraine Safety Help Initiative, or USAI.
Biden stated all longer-term USAI funds have now been spent and pledged to use all the remaining drawdown money before leaving office.
“I’ve directed my administration to proceed surging as a lot help to Ukraine as shortly as attainable,” Biden stated in a press release. “At my route, america will proceed to work relentlessly to strengthen Ukraine’s place on this warfare over the rest of my time in workplace.”
The brand new assist comes as Russia has launched a barrage of attacks against Ukraine’s power facilities in latest days, though Ukraine has stated it intercepted a big variety of the missiles and drones. Russian and Ukrainian forces are additionally nonetheless in a bitter battle around the Russian border region of Kursk, the place Moscow has sent thousands of North Korean troops to assist reclaim territory taken by Ukraine.
The Biden administration is pushing to get weapons into Ukraine to present Kyiv the strongest negotiating place attainable earlier than Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump has talked about getting some kind of negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia and has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Many U.S. and European leaders are involved that Trump’s discuss of a settlement would possibly end in a poor deal for Ukraine, and so they fear that he won’t provide Ukraine with all of the weapons funding authorised by Congress.
The weapons techniques being pulled from present stockpiles by this newest weapons package deal embrace counter-unmanned aerial techniques munitions, air protection munitions, ammunition for Excessive Mobility Artillery Rocket Programs (HIMARS), 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, air-to-ground munitions, anti-armor techniques, tube-launched missiles, fragmentation grenades, and different objects and spare elements.
Together with Monday’s announcement, the U.S. has offered greater than $65 billion in safety help to Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022.
Copyright 2024 The Related Press. All rights reserved. This materials will not be revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.
