The U.S. will provide Ukraine with an additional $800 million in military aid

The United States will allocate an additional $800 million in military aid to Ukraine, bringing it to $1 billion this week, President Joe Biden said in a brief speech at the White House about Washington’s military assistance to Kiev.

“On Saturday, my administration approved another $200 million to maintain a steady flow of arms and ammunition to Ukraine. Now I am again using my presidential authority to activate additional security assistance to continue to help Ukraine resist Russia’s attack, and I am allocating an additional $800 million in assistance, bringing the total amount of new U.S. security assistance for Ukraine to $1 billion this week alone,” Biden said.

He recalled that the U.S. had sent Ukraine $650 million in military aid last year, including air defense equipment and anti-tank systems. After the Russian military operation began, Biden added, the U.S. administration “immediately allocated $350 million in additional aid.” U.S. aid went for transport helicopters, patrol boats, highly mobile vehicles, radars that help track artillery and drones, secure communications equipment, combat gear, and more, among other things.

At the same time, the White House said that in total, the Biden administration has provided Kiev with $2 billion in military aid since the beginning of his presidency. The assistance announced by the US leader will be provided in the form of “direct supplies of equipment from the US Department of Defense to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.” In addition, the White House continued, the U.S. “continues to accelerate the authorization” of allies to supply Ukraine with U.S. weapons they have. Thus, at least 30 countries have provided military assistance to Kiev since the start of the Russian special operation.

Biden also signed a memorandum Wednesday that allows up to $10 million in additional aid to Kiev “for goods and services from the reserves and resources of any U.S. government agency.”

In addition, U.S. authorities intend to transfer additional weapons to Ukraine, including air defense systems, anti-tank systems, small arms, and ammunition.

“This package involves the allocation of unprecedented assistance to Ukraine. It includes 800 air defense systems so that the Ukrainian military can stop planes and helicopters,” the American leader said. As the White House clarified, we are talking about Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems.

“At the request of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, we have identified additional longer-range air defense systems and ammunition for them and are helping Ukraine get them,” Biden added. According to the White House, these are systems, the use of which “the Ukrainian military has already been trained.” The names of these weapons are not given.

“Our new aid package also includes 9,000 anti-tank systems,” Biden said. According to the White House, these are 2,000 Javelin anti-tank missile systems, 6,000 AT-4 anti-tank grenade launchers, as well as 1,000 “light anti-tank systems.”

In addition, the U.S. will provide Kiev with 100 “tactical drones. According to Biden, about 7 thousand small arms will be transferred. According to the White House, the aid package will include, in particular, 100 grenade launchers, 400 machine guns, more than 20 million pieces of different ammunition, 25 thousand body armor and the same number of helmets.