WASHINGTON: The United States is likely to announce an additional $275 million in military aid for Ukraine on Friday, two US officials say.
This will be the fourth installment of military assistance for Ukraine since Congress passed a long-delayed aid bill late last month. Biden administration has already pledged to keep arms flowing regularly to Ukraine and to get them to the front lines in the war against Russia as early as possible.
According to the two US officials the package includes high mobility rocket systems, or HIMARS, as well as 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds. Speaking to media on the condition of anonymity they provided details of the aid package before the public announcement.
This deployment follows a monthly gathering of about 50 defense leaders from Europe and elsewhere on Monday who meet regularly to coordinate getting more military aid to Ukraine.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at this latest meeting said Ukraine was in a moment of challenge because of Russia’s new offensive on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. He vowed to keep weapons moving “week after week.”
Russia has sought to take advantage of Ukrainian shortages in weapons and manpower while the war-hit country waits for the arrival of more US assistance, which was delayed in Congress for months.
In the month since President Joe Biden signed the $95 billion foreign assistance package, which included about $61 billion for Ukraine, the US has announced and started to dispatch almost $1.7 billion in weapons from stockpiles of the Pentagon.
It’s also announced $6 billion in financial assistance through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. That pays for longer-term agreements with the defense industry and means that the arms could take many months or years to arrive.
The US with this latest package has now given almost $51 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia started war against Kyiv in February 2022.
