US to provide Ukraine with ‘significant’ military aid

The US has announced a new $725 million military aid package for Ukraine, with weapons and munitions to be provided from Defense Department stocks. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan earlier claimed there would be a “massive surge” in deliveries to Kiev in the final weeks of the current administration.

In a press statement on Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken unveiled “another significant package of urgently needed weapons and equipment” for Ukraine. According to the document, the latest batch of military supplies is valued at $725 million and will be provided “under previously exercised Presidential Drawdown Authority.”

The Pentagon confirmed the new tranche, adding that it is the 71st such package provided to Kiev by the administration of President Joe Biden since August 2021.

Among the weapons and munitions to be supplied to Ukraine are missiles for the NASAMS air-defense system as well as Stinger missiles and Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (c-UAS) munitions. Moreover, Ukraine will receive missiles for the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, 155mm and 105mm artillery shells, drones, TOW and AT-4 anti-armor systems, small arms, and non-persistent land mines.

Last month, the Biden administration announced plans to provide Ukraine with land mines for the first time since the escalation of the conflict – a move criticized even by Western human rights groups.

Speaking to ABC News on Sunday, Sullivan stated that Washington was working to “get Ukraine all the tools we possibly can to strengthen their position on the battlefield” as well as during any future peace negotiations with Russia.

“President Biden directed me to oversee a massive surge in the military equipment that we are delivering to Ukraine so that we have spent every dollar that Congress has appropriated to us by the time that President Biden leaves office,” the official said.

In late November, Politico, citing a document sent by the White House Office of Management and Budget to Congress, reported that the outgoing president had quietly asked lawmakers to allocate an additional $24 billion in Ukraine-related spending. Shortly beforehand, Biden wrote off $4.7 billion in forgivable loans provided to Kiev.

President-elect Donald Trump has repeatedly vowed to put a swift end to the Ukraine conflict. His supporters have suggested that Biden is trying to sabotage any prospect of a peaceful settlement.

Russia has consistently denounced Western weapons deliveries to Ukraine, insisting that they only serve to unnecessarily prolong the bloodshed, while unable to change the course of the conflict.