The Biden administration announced the latest military aid package for Ukraine on Monday, as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was in Kyiv.
This aid package, the 68th tranche of equipment going from U.S. stockpiles to the Ukrainians, is valued at roughly $400 million and will include munitions for rocket systems and artillery, mortar systems and rounds, armored vehicles, and anti-tank weapons.
“I know that the Kremlin’s war is a nightmare from which the Ukrainian people are trying to awake,” Austin’s pre-written remarks, which were provided to the Washington Examiner, said. “But we should all understand that Putin’s assault is a warning. It is a sneak preview of a world built by tyrants and thugs — a chaotic, violent world carved into spheres of influence, a world where bullies trample their smaller neighbors, and a world where aggressors force free people to live in fear. So we face a hinge in history.”
Austin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in Kyiv to discuss Ukraine’s battlefield needs and how the administration can continue to support them. The Biden administration, however, will end in January and continued aid to Ukraine is potentially in jeopardy if former President Donald Trump wins a second term in office.
“As the President said as recently as late last month, the United States is going to continue to surge assistance to Ukraine so that it can prevail,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “Today’s announcement underscores that commitment. It shows our resolve to continue getting Ukraine the support that it needs through January.”
Zelensky said he and Austin “discussed critical defense priorities, including Ukraine’s air defense capabilities, preparations for the winter period, and the expansion of long-range weapon use against Russian military targets,” the latter of which has been a frequent Ukrainian request for several months, which the U.S. has continued to deny.
The U.S. announced its most recent aid package last week after a call between Zelensky and President Joe Biden.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“President Zelensky updated President Biden on his plan to achieve victory over Russia, and the two leaders tasked their teams to engage in further consultations on next steps,” the White House said at the time. “The leaders committed to intensify security assistance planning alongside international partners in order to ensure that Ukraine has the equipment it needs to prevail.”
On the battlefield, Ukrainian and South Korean officials have alleged North Korean troops have arrived in Russia to fight on their behalf in Ukraine, though the U.S. has not confirmed the explosive allegation.
“We’re obviously continuing to look into those reports, and we’re talking to our allies and partners about what they’re saying on this as well,” Kirby added. “If it’s true that the DPRK soldiers are going there to join the war against Ukraine, it would certainly mark a dangerous and highly concerning development.”