The Defense Department, coinciding with President Biden’s surprise visit to Ukraine, has announced a $460 million military aid package that includes additional long-range ammunition and Javelin anti-tank weapons.
The package, funded through presidential “drawdown” authority, includes:
The Biden administration has provided about $30 billion in security aid to Ukraine since the start of a Russian invasion in February 2022.
“When Putin launched his invasion nearly one year ago, he thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided. He thought he could outlast us,” Biden said in a statement. “But he was dead wrong.”
Though a vocal minority of Republicans on Capitol Hill want to suspend aid to Ukraine, House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers (R-AL) recently returned from a trip to Poland and Romania where he and other lawmakers went to conduct oversight of U.S. aid being sent to Ukraine and said he is “confident” the aid is being tracked and put to good use.
Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said additional U.S. weapons will continue flowing to Ukraine to prepare for a “spring offensive” to try to dislodge Russian forces.