President Joe Biden said Monday that the United States will send nearly $2.5 billion more in weapons to Ukraine as his administration works quickly to spend all the money it has available to help kyiv fight Russia before President-elect Donald Trump take office.
The package includes $1.25 billion in presidential drawdown authority, allowing the military to remove existing stockpiles from their shelves and get weapons to the battlefield faster. It also has $1.22 billion in long-term weapons packages to be contracted through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).
Biden said all long-term USAI funds have already been spent and that he seeks to fully utilize all remaining money before leaving office.
“I have directed my administration to continue increasing assistance to Ukraine as quickly as possible,” Biden said in a statement. “Under my direction, the United States will continue to work tirelessly to strengthen Ukraine's position in this war for the remainder of my term.”
In addition to weapons support, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Monday that the United States will also provide $3.4 billion in economic assistance to Ukraine to help pay for critical government services during its ongoing fight against Russia. The money will go to pay salaries for 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 barrage of attacks on Ukraine's power facilities in recent days, although Ukraine has said it intercepted a significant number of missiles and drones. Russian and Ukrainian forces are also still in a bitter battle around Russia's Kursk border region, where Moscow has sent thousands of North Korean troops to help recapture territory seized by Ukraine.
The Biden administration is pushing to bring weapons to Ukraine to give kyiv the strongest possible negotiating position before Trump's inauguration on January 20. Trump has talked about reaching some kind of negotiated agreement between Ukraine and Russia and has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Many American and European leaders are concerned that Trump's talk about a deal could result in a bad deal for Ukraine, and they worry that he will not provide Ukraine with all the arms funding approved by Congress.
Weapon systems being drawn from existing arsenals through this latest weapons package include ammunition for unmanned aerial systems, ammunition for air defense, ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), artillery ammunition 155 mm and 105 mm, air-to-ground ammunition, anti-armor systems weapons, 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.
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