The total amount of US “gifts” to Kiev has approached $ 10 billion
The Biden administration announced another package of assistance to Ukraine, including surface-to-air missiles and mortar ammunition worth $ 1 billion from American stocks, bringing the total amount of military assistance to Kiev to $ 9.8 billion.
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The White House said it was sending the largest direct supply of weapons to Ukraine.
At every stage of this conflict, we have been focused on providing Ukrainians with what they need, depending on the changing conditions on the battlefield,” said Colin Kahl, US Undersecretary of Defense for Political Affairs, announcing a new supply of weapons to Kiev on Monday.
The new U.S. assistance includes additional missiles for the highly mobile HIMARS artillery missile systems, as well as thousands of artillery shells, mortar systems, javelins and other ammunition and equipment.
Although the US has already provided Ukraine with 16 units of HIMARS, Colin Kahl said that the new package does not include additional missile systems.
“These are not the systems that, according to our estimates, you need by the hundreds to achieve the necessary effect,— said a senior Pentagon official. “These are precision guidance systems for very specific types of targets, and Ukrainians use them as such.”
According to the latest announcement, the total US security assistance that the Biden administration provided to Ukraine exceeded $ 9 billion, writes the Daily Mail.
The latest aid package to Kiev, announced on Monday, allows the United States to deliver weapons systems and other equipment to Ukraine faster, as the Americans remove them from the warehouses of the Ministry of Defense.
In addition to missiles for HIMARS, the new supply package includes 75,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery pieces, 20 mortar systems and 20,000 rounds to them, 1,000 portable Javelin missiles, as well as other weapons, explosives and medical equipment.
In total, since the Biden administration came to power, the United States has allocated about $9.8 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.
The new funding is paid for by the $40 billion in economic and security assistance to Ukraine approved by Congress.
For the 18th time since August 2021, the Pentagon has been supplying Ukraine with equipment from the warehouses of the Ministry of Defense, writes the Daily Mail.
According to Colin Kal, the United States and its allies are still considering whether to supply aircraft to Ukraine. “It is possible that Western aircraft may be part of this mix in the future,” he said.
Vladimir Zelinsky at the beginning of the conflict almost daily called for combat aircraft, calling them necessary to protect the skies of Ukraine, the Daily Mail reminds. The United States and some other NATO countries expressed fears that this could involve them in more direct participation in Ukraine’s military operations against Russia, and did not provide Western aircraft to Kiev.
Separately on Monday, the Finance Ministry said it would send Ukraine another $3 billion in direct economic assistance. This is part of the previously approved economic assistance in the amount of $7.5 billion, of which $ 1.5 billion has not yet been paid.