The Biden administration announced another package of weapons aid for Ukraine, valued at $500 million, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
White House spokesperson John Kirby said earlier the U.S. would continue to provide additional packages for Ukraine “right up to the end of this administration.”
Washington said 10 days ago it would send Ukraine $725 million worth of missiles, ammunition, anti-personnel mines and other weapons.
Biden’s outgoing administration is seeking to bolster Ukraine in tackling Russia’s invasion, before Biden’s term ends in January when Republican President-elect Donald Trump would take office.
Thursday’s package worth about $500 million included ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs), among other assistance, according to Blinken.
After Thursday, about $5.6 billion worth of Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) to rush weapons from U.S. stocks to the front lines remains available to Biden without requiring congressional approval.
Moscow’s troops have been capturing village after village in Ukraine’s east, part of a drive to seize the industrial Donbas region, while Russian air strikes target a hobbled Ukrainian energy grid as winter sets in.
The United States has unveiled a $988 million aid package of new arms and equipment to Ukraine for its ongoing fight against Russia’s invasion late last week.
The package is nearly half of the available value of $2.21 billion remaining in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) as the Biden administration works to commit to buying weapons from industry, rather than pulling from U.S. weapons stocks.
The Biden administration still has about $6 billion of congressionally granted presidential drawdown authority, including funds authorized in 2024 and funds discovered by the Pentagon after overestimating the value of arms shipped to Ukraine.
Since the invasion by Russia in February 2022, the U.S. has committed more than $62 billion worth of security assistance to Ukraine.
Team Bharatshakti
(With inputs from Reuters)
