After a lot of debate, the Pentagon is getting ready to send a large amount of $1 billion in fresh military aid to Ukraine, American officials announced on Tuesday.
The decision to continue with this came after a long time of arguments and disagreements among lawmakers. House Speaker Mike Johnson had to work hard to bring together members from both sides in order to pass the bill.
The $95 billion foreign aid package, which also includes funding for Israel and Taiwan, was made over the weekend and got the Senate’s stamp of approval on Tuesday. President Joe Biden is set to sign it into law on Wednesday.
A good amount of the aid, about $61 billion, is specifically for Ukraine. The assistance package contains ammunition, from air defense to ample supplies of artillery rounds, which are in high demand by Ukrainian forces.
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It also includes armored vehicles and various other weapons. Some of these weapons will reach the battlefront quickly and in some cases within days. However, delivery times may vary for other items.
While Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, didn’t talk about the details of the package, he emphasized that the U.S. has a good enough logistical system in place.
He assured that they’re fully prepared to respond quickly once the bill is signed. Ryder highlighted that the U.S. maintains lots of military equipment in Europe and can make the delivery quicker, within days, as they’ve done previously.
The United Kingdom also recently made a commitment to provide $620 million in military supplies for Ukraine, including long-range missiles and millions of rounds of ammunition.
President Biden during a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, assured him of the U.S.’s commitment to send much-needed air defense weapons once the Senate allows it.
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The latest batch of weapons will be supplied through presidential drawdown authority, tapping into existing U.S. stockpiles to swiftly dispatch systems and munitions to the conflict zone. Some of the munitions are already stationed in Europe, allowing for rapid deployment to Ukrainian forces.
General CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, painted a picture of the situation to the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee. He described Ukraine’s predicament as facing “dire battlefield conditions.”
During a recent virtual meeting of defense ministers in the NATO-Ukraine Council, Defense Secretary Austin stressed the need for action on providing air defense weapons to Kyiv. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and President Zelenskyy were among those who attended, alongside other NATO allies.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. has sent over $44 billion worth of weapons, training, maintenance, and spare parts to Ukraine.
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While aid packages were initially flowing regularly, funding began to dry up towards the end of the fiscal year. By mid-December, the Pentagon announced it had exhausted its budget and had to halt weapon shipments due to the stalled funding package in Congress. The $1 billion aid package was first reported by Reuters.
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