WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is anticipated to announce that it’s going to ship $1.25 billion in navy help to Ukraine, U.S. officers stated Friday, because the Biden administration pushes to get as much aid to Kyiv as possible earlier than leaving workplace on Jan. 20.
The giant package deal of support features a important quantity of munitions, together with for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems and the HAWK air protection system. It additionally will present Stinger missiles and 155 mm- and 105 mm artillery rounds, officers stated.
The officers, who stated they anticipate the announcement to be made on Monday, spoke on situation of anonymity to offer particulars not but made public.
The new support comes as Russia has launched a barrage of assaults towards Ukraine’s energy amenities in latest days, though Ukraine has stated it intercepted a major variety of the missiles and drones. Russian and Ukrainian forces are additionally nonetheless in a bitter battle across the Russian border area of Kursk, the place Moscow has sent thousands of North Korean troops to assist reclaim territory taken by Ukraine.
Earlier this month, senior protection officers acknowledged that that the Defense Department may not be able to send all the remaining $5.6 billion in Pentagon weapons and gear shares handed by Congress for Ukraine earlier than President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in.
Trump has talked about getting some kind of negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia, and spoken about his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Many U.S. and European leaders are involved that it’d lead to a poor deal for Ukraine and so they fear that he will not present Ukraine with all of the weapons funding accepted by Congress.
The support within the new package deal is in presidential drawdown authority, which permits the Pentagon to take weapons off the cabinets and ship them shortly to Ukraine. This newest help would cut back the remaining quantity to about $4.35 billion.
Officials have stated they hope that an inflow of support will assist strengthen Ukraine’s hand, ought to Zelenskyy resolve it is time to negotiate.
One senior protection official stated that whereas the U.S. will proceed to offer weapons to Ukraine till Jan. 20, there might be funds remaining that will probably be accessible for the incoming Trump administration to spend.
According to the Pentagon, there’s additionally about $1.2 billion remaining in longer-term funding via the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which is used to pay for weapons contracts that may not be delivered for a yr or extra. Officials have stated the administration anticipates releasing all of that cash earlier than the tip of the calendar yr.
If the brand new package deal is included, the U.S. has supplied greater than $64 billion in safety help to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.
