The US on Monday announced almost $5.9 billion in military and economic aid for Ukraine, some of the final funds to be disbursed under President Joe Biden before an expected shift in support by incoming President-elect Donald Trump.
The military aid includes $1.25 billion in so-called Presidential Drawdown Authority, which pulls weapons and ammunition from US stockpiles, and the final $1.22 billion from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, Biden said in a statement. The aid includes air defense, artillery and “other critical weapons systems,” he said.
Separately, the Treasury Department announced the last $3.4 billion disbursement in direct budget support under last year’s Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act.
“I’ve directed my Administration to continue surging as much assistance to Ukraine as quickly as possible – including drawing down older US equipment for Ukraine, rapidly delivering it to the battlefield, and then revitalizing the US defense industrial base to modernize and replenish our stockpiles with new weapons,” Biden said in the statement.
President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to swiftly end the war in Ukraine once he takes office Jan. 20, saying he would be willing to both ramp up aid to Kyiv or end it completely to force both sides toward a settlement. Last week Russia dismissed Trump’s call for an immediate cease-fire, with the future of Ukraine’s relationship with NATO as a major sticking point.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the economic assistance, coordinated with the US Agency for International Development and Department of State, will help maintain “critical government services” as Russia intensifies attacks on civilian and critical infrastructure.
The Pentagon said in an email that Biden still has access to about $4.35 billion in drawdown authority, which pulls from Pentagon inventories. But officials have previously acknowledged that withdrawing heavily from US stockpiles by the end of this term risks undermining US readiness.
The security assistance funds will be used by Ukraine for long-term weapons contracts from US firms, separate from Pentagon inventories. The US has provided more than $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion.
Ukraine’s military is struggling to fend off Russian advances in its east, and US officials said last week that Kyiv’s forces have lost about half the territory seized in Russia’s Kursk region and may lose the rest in a matter of months.
(c) 2024\, Bloomberg · Tony Capaccio
How come he didn’t ask me permission first?
For the mere fact that he’s pushing it through at the very end of his failed presidency and at a time when lawmakers are not in D.C. proves how dishonest it is.
joe the big brother is helping you!