U.S. Giving Ukraine $3-B In Military Aid vs Russian Invasion

The Biden administration is expected on Wednesday (Thursday, August 25, 2022, in Manila) to announce roughly $3 billion in additional aid to train and equip Ukrainian forces to fight for years to come, US officials said, Lolita C. Baldor and Matthew Lee reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Unlike most previous packages, the new funding is largely aimed at helping Ukraine secure its medium- to long-term defense posture.

The officials told AP that the package will fund contracts for as many as three types of drones and other weapons, ammunition and equipment that may not see the battlefront for a year or two.

The total of the aid package — it is being provided under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative — could change, but not likely by much.

Officials said it will include money for the small, hand-launched Puma drones, the longer-endurance Scan Eagle surveillance drones, which are launched by catapult, and, for the first time, the British Vampire drone system, which can be launched off ships.

Several officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the aid before its public release.

As Russia’s war on Ukraine drags on, US security assistance is shifting to a longer-term campaign that also will likely keep more American military troops in Europe into the future, US officials said.

Wednesday was Ukraine’s independence day holiday and the six-month point in the war. Unlike most previous packages, the new funding is largely aimed at helping Ukraine secure its medium- to long-term defense posture, according to officials familiar with the matter.

Earlier shipments, most of them done under Presidential Drawdown Authority, have focused on Ukraine’s more immediate needs for weapons and ammunition and involved materiel that the Pentagon already has in stock that can be shipped in short order.

In addition to providing longer-term assistance that Ukraine can use for potential future defense needs, the new package is intended to reassure Ukrainian officials that the US intends to keep up its support, regardless of the day-to-day back and forth of the conflict, the officials said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg noted the more extended focus Tuesday as he reaffirmed the alliance’s support for the conflict-torn country.

“Winter is coming, and it will be hard, and what we see now is a grinding war of attrition. This is a battle of wills and a battle of logistics. Therefore we must sustain our support for Ukraine for the long term so that Ukraine prevails as a sovereign, independent nation,” Stoltenberg said, speaking at a virtual conference about Crimea, organized by Ukraine.

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