US Pledges $800 Mln Worth Of Additional Military Aid To Ukraine

As Russia prepares to intensify its attack in the eastern Donbas region, the United States has pledged an additional $800 million in weapons, ammunition, and other security assistance to Ukraine.

President Joe Biden pledged the additional security assistance in a call with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday.

This authorization of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance is the seventh drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.

“This new package of assistance will contain many of the highly effective weapons systems we have already provided and new capabilities tailored to the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine,” Biden said in a statement. These new capabilities include artillery systems, artillery rounds, and armored personnel carriers. Biden has also authorized the Defense Department to transfer additional helicopters to the Ukrainian government.

Also on Wednesday, the European Union has approved an additional EUR500 million ($544 million) for military equipment for the Ukrainian Armed Forces

The two pledges combined make a total of $1.3 billion in military aid for the war-ravaged country.

“The next weeks will be decisive. As Russia prepares for an offensive on the East of Ukraine, it is crucial that we continue and step up our military support to Ukraine to defend its territory and population and prevent further suffering,” said Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Capabilities in the U.S. military package include 18 155mm Howitzers and 40,000 artillery rounds; Ten AN/TPQ-36 counter-artillery radars; Two AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel air surveillance radars; 300 Switchblade Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems; 500 Javelin missiles and thousands of other anti-armor systems; 200 M113 Armored Personnel Carriers; 100 Armored High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles; 11 Mi-17 helicopters; Unmanned Coastal Defense Vessels; Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear protective equipment; and M18A1 Claymore anti-personnel munitions configured to be consistent with the Ottawa Convention, according to Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirby.

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