US to provide Ukraine with up to $250m in arms and equipment
The US will provide Ukraine with up to $250m in arms and equipment, including air defense munitions and artillery ammunition, the US has announced.
The package of arms includes Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, additional Himars ammunition, javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems as well as artillery and small arms ammunition. It is the Biden administration’s 54th disbursement of military equipment to Ukraine since August 2021.
In a statement, the US Department of Defense (DoD) said: “These capabilities will support Ukraine’s most pressing needs to enable its forces to defend their sovereignty and independence. US leadership is essential to sustaining the coalition efforts of some 50 allies and partners currently supporting Ukraine. Security assistance for Ukraine is a smart investment in our national security.”
The latest assistance was made using the presidential drawdown authority, a US foreign policy tool, which allows for the speedy delivery of DoD stocks to foreign countries in crisis. In another recent instance, PDA was used in December 2022 to assist Taiwan with a $345m weapons package in its defense against increasing military pressure from China, who denies the country’s sovereignty and claims it as its own territory.
News of more US military aid to Ukraine comes after Joe Biden announced another $200m military aid package earlier in December amid concerns that the war had reached a stalemate and amid growing Republican opposition to renewing a larger $61bn of aid.
Critics of continued financial support for Ukraine have grown louder on Capitol Hill in recent months and include senior Republicans who have insisted on White House concessions on border security as a condition for a deal.
The latest assistance was made using the presidential drawdown authority, which allows for the speedy delivery of DoD stocks to foreign countries.
Both Ukrainian and Russian soldiers are struggling to make much progress along the frontline of the 22-month war.
And US critics of continued financial support for Ukraine have grown louder on Capitol Hill in recent months. They include senior Republicans – particularly far-rightwingers Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene – who have insisted on White House concessions on border security as a condition for a deal.
A September CBS News/YouGov poll found 39% of Republicans believe the US should send weapons to Ukraine – a 10-point drop in support since February.
As continued weapons supplies looked uncertain, Ukraine’s minister of strategic industries said on Wednesday that Kyiv was working to increase its own weapons manufacturing in 2024.
Oleksandr Kamyshin told a briefing Ukraine was producing six Bohdana self-propelled artillery units a month. Bohdanas are the only Ukrainian-produced self-propelled gun using Nato-standard 155mm rounds, making it a strategically important weapon for Kyiv.
Kamyshin also said the country next year aims to produce up to 1,000 long-range strike drones, which have a range of about 1,000km (620 miles), 10,000 middle-range and 1,000 long-range strike drones.
His words came as Russia fired almost 50 Shahed drones at targets in Ukraine on Wednesday and shelled a train station where more than 100 civilians were gathered to evacuate.
Ukrainian officials said the barrages killed at least six people and knocked out power in most of the southern city of Kherson.
