The plan includes US$1.25 billion in presidential drawdown authorization, which allows the military to remove existing stockpiles from its shelves and get weapons to the battlefield more quickly. It also has US$1.22 billion in longer-term arms packages that will be contracted under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, or USAI.
President Biden explained that all of USAI’s long-term funds have now been spent and committed to using any remaining money before leaving office.
“I have directed my administration to continue providing as much aid as possible to Ukraine,” Mr. Biden said in a statement.
“Under my leadership, the United States will continue to work tirelessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in this war during the remainder of my term.”
— Joe Biden, President of the United States
In addition to military aid, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Monday that the United States will also provide US$3.4 billion in economic aid to Ukraine to help fund essential government services. during its ongoing struggle against Russia. The money will be used to pay the salaries of civilian government and school employees, health care workers and first responders.
The new aid comes as Russia has launched a series of attacks on Ukraine’s power facilities in recent days, although Ukraine said it had intercepted a significant number of missiles and drones. Russian and Ukrainian forces are also still engaged in a fierce battle around the Russian border region of Kursk, where Moscow has sent thousands of North Korean troops to help regain territory conquered by Ukraine.
The Biden administration is pushing for weapons to flow to Ukraine to give Kyiv the strongest possible negotiating position before Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20. The latter spoke of securing some sort of negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Many U.S. and European leaders fear that Donald Trump’s talk of a settlement could result in a bad deal for Ukraine. They also fear that he will not provide Ukraine with all the arms funds approved by Congress.
Weapon systems removed from existing stockpiles through this latest batch of weapons include unmanned aerial system munitions, air defense munitions, high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) munitions, 155mm and 105mm artillery, air-to-ground munitions, anti-armor systems, tube-launching missiles, fragmentation grenades and other items and spare parts.
Including Monday’s announcement, the United States has provided more than US$65 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022.
