SIMI VALLEY, CALIFORNIA: The United States announced a $988 million aid package on Saturday to supply Ukraine with new arms and equipment for its defence against Russia’s ongoing invasion.
The package significantly reduces the $2.21 billion remaining in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), as the Biden administration shifts towards purchasing weapons directly from industry rather than drawing from US military stockpiles.
According to the Pentagon, the funds will be allocated to procure ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) produced by Lockheed Martin, as well as drones and spare parts for maintaining artillery equipment.
The announcement coincided with the Reagan National Defence Forum in California, which brought together defence industry leaders and policymakers.
Unlike the Presidential Drawdown Authority, often used by President Joe Biden to transfer surplus US military resources during emergencies without requiring congressional approval, the USAI funds are designated for acquiring new weapons directly from manufacturers.
The administration still has approximately $6 billion in congressionally authorised drawdown funds, including allocations for 2024 and additional funds identified after the Pentagon revised previous estimates of the value of arms already shipped to Ukraine.
Since Russia’s invasion began in February 2022, the United States has provided over $62 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.
Donald Trump on Sunday called for an immediate cease-fire in Russia’s war with Ukraine and the president-elect renewed warnings that he was open to pulling the United States out of NATO.
Trump made his cease-fire proposal after a weekend meeting in Paris with French and Ukrainian leaders, claiming in a social media post that Kyiv “would like to make a deal” to end the more than 1,000-day war. The Kremlin responded that it was open to negotiations, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautioned that any deal would have to pave the way to a lasting peace.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Russia and Ukraine have each lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in a war that “should never have started.” “There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed,” Trump said. He urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to act to bring an end to the fighting. –Agencies
