The Biden administration is sending further military support to Ukraine for its war against Russia in the final days of the president’s term.
The White House announced Thursday a $500 million package to provide Ukraine with air-defense missiles, air-to-ground munitions, and equipment needed for Ukraine to use F-16s.
“As part of our continued surge in security assistance that President Biden announced on September 26, the United States is providing another significant package of urgently needed weapons and equipment to our Ukrainian partners as they defend against Russia’s war of aggression,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“The United States and more than 50 nations stand united to ensure Ukraine has the capabilities it needs to defend itself against Russia’s aggression.”
The announcement comes as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky and western officials including Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met at an air force base in Germany. The meeting was convened by the Ramstein Contact Group, a coalition of over 50 countries allied with Ukraine.
“We’ve come such a long way that it would honestly be crazy to drop the ball now and not keep building on the defense coalitions we’ve created,” Zelensky said.
“No matter what’s going on in the world, everyone wants to feel sure that their country will not just be erased of the map.”
Blinken and Austin will be leaving their respective posts with the start of President-elect Donald Trump’s term later this month. Zelensky has expressed optimism about working with Trump and the pair spoke on the phone soon after Trump’s resounding electoral victory in November.
Ukrainian forces are currently fighting an offensive in the Kursk region of southern Russia as the Russians attempt to seize territory in eastern Ukraine. A Russian airstrike on an industrial site in the southeastern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia killed 13 and injured more than 100, Ukrainian authorities said.
“You’ve seen what happened yesterday in our city of Zaporizhzhia – Russia’s bombs killed 13 people, 112 were injured. That was just one day, one attack, one strike from the air. We must stop Russia’s terror. And you can do it. We ask for urgent deliveries of air defense systems,” Zelensky said.
President Joe Biden is sending the military aid through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which draws from the existing U.S. military stockpile. The tool is one Biden has used numerous times to get weapons sent from American stockpiles to Ukraine.
Since August 2021, the U.S. has given Ukraine 74 tranches of equipment for its ongoing war against Russia that began when Russia invaded Ukraine almost three years ago. The Biden administration appears set to leave $3.8 billion of funds meant for Ukraine in Trump’s hands when he returns to office.
Trump has repeatedly called for enacting a cease-fire to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, but his plans have been light on details. He has also warned about the possible breakout of War War III and expressed skepticism towards American aid for Ukraine.
At a press conference Tuesday, Trump sympathized with Russia’s longstanding view that Ukraine should not be allowed to enter NATO. Ukraine has pushed for NATO membership as a potential deterrent to future conflicts against Russia.
“A big part of the problem is, Russia – for many, many years, long before Putin – said, ;You could never have NATO involved with Ukraine.’ Now, they’ve said that. That’s been, like, written in stone,” Trump said.
“And somewhere along the line Biden said, ‘No. They should be able to join NATO.’ Well, then Russia has somebody right on their doorstep, and I could understand their feelings about that.”
Republicans have been divided on the Ukraine issue, as shown last year during a contentious congressional fight to push a $95 billion foreign aid package through to bolster Ukrainian and Israeli capabilities.