(CNSNews.com) – On Feb. 3, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced $2.175 billion in “additional security assistance” for Ukraine, raising the total value of assistance provided to $29.3 billion since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
This installment of aid comes in the form of President Joe Biden’s 31st drawdown, which the DoD values at up to $425 million, paired with $1.75 billion through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds.
According to a Feb. 3 DoD press release, Biden’s $425 million, 31st drawdown will include the following capabilities:
The $1.75 billion USAI package will include the following:
This announcement of a $1.75 billion USAI package “represents the beginning of a contracting process to provide additional capabilities to Ukraine’s Armed Forces as part of our efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s military over the near and long-term,” reads the press release.
The $425 million drawdown, includes equipment taken from DoD stocks that will be shipped to Ukraine.
The latest aid package was met with a message of gratitude from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who tweeted the following response:
“Thank you @POTUS for the new $2.2 billion defense aid package. It’s important to strengthen the UA Defense Forces. Together with US we stand against terror! The more long-range our weapons are and the more mobile our troops are the sooner Russia’s brutal aggression will end.”
Amid talks in recent weeks of the possibility of the U.S. sending F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, Biden said on Monday that he will not be sending them for the time being.