President Joe Biden said on Monday that the US would send about $2.5 billion more in weapons. Ukraine Because his administration moves quickly to spend all available money to help Kiev fight Russia before he is elected president. Donald Trump takes the office.
The package includes $1.25 billion in presidential drawdown authority, which allows the military to pull existing stocks off its shelves and get weapons to the battlefield faster. It also has $1.22 billion in long-term weapons packages that will be kept under contract by the separate Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, or USAI.
Biden said that all of USAI's long-term funds are now spent and that he wants to use up all remaining drawdown money before leaving office.
“I have directed my administration to continue providing maximum assistance to Ukraine as soon as possible,” Biden said in a statement. “At my direction, the United States will continue to work throughout my time in office to strengthen Ukraine's position in this war.”
In addition to the arms support, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Monday that the United States is providing $3.4 billion in economic aid to Ukraine to help pay for critical government services during its ongoing fight against Russia. The money will 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 against Ukrainian power facilities in recent days, although Ukraine says it has intercepted a large number of missiles and drones. Russian and Ukrainian forces are also in a bitter battle around the Russian border region of Kursk, where Moscow has sent thousands of North Korean troops to help retake Ukrainian-held territory.
The Biden administration is pushing to get weapons into Ukraine to give Kiev the strongest possible negotiating position before Trump's inauguration on January 20. Trump has spoken of seeking some sort of negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Many U.S. and European leaders are concerned that Trump's talk of a settlement could result in a bad deal for Ukraine, and fear that he could force Congress to approve Ukraine. Not all weapons will be funded.
The weapons systems being pulled from the existing stockpile by this latest weapons package include anti-unmanned aerial system munitions, air defense munitions, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, including air-to-ground weapons. – 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 the neighboring country in February 2022.
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