Russia-Ukraine Conflict: US Extends $100 Million Help To Ukraine In Military Aid
Blinken informed that the $100 million drawdown will take the US military assistance to Ukraine to about $3.9 billion in arms and equipment since Russia launched its invasion of its neighbour.
New Delhi: In a latest funding, the US has authorised $100 million of additional military aid to Ukraine on Thursday to help Kyiv resist Russia’s invasion, according to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
This is the 10th time that the US President Joe Biden has used his Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) to extend help to Ukraine and would account for the $100 million remaining in that funding. Under PDA, the President has the power to authorise transfer of excess weapons from US stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency.
What is the new transfer aimed at?
In a statement, Blinken informed that the $100 million drawdown will take the US military assistance to Ukraine to about $3.9 billion in arms and equipment since Russia launched its operations against the country on February 24.
Under the new defence package, Ukraine will be given 18 additional 155 mm howitzers, 18 more tactical vehicles and three additional counter-artillery radars, said Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby, according to Reuters.
Around 184,000 artillery rounds have been already sent to Ukraine for use in howitzers. The additional munitions included in Thursday’s package would supply Kyiv’s forces in eastern Ukraine.
"The United States is committed to helping Ukraine continue to meet its defence needs and build its future capabilities, as well as to bolster Allies and partners across NATO’s Eastern Flank and the broader region," reiterated Blinken.
Focusing on the aid to Ukraine, the US Senate separately on Thursday went ahead to approve an emergency funding bill for the country that included nearly $40 billion in aid besides additional $11 billion worth of PDA.
"Ukraine’s courageous defence forces remain firmly in the fight,” Blinken said in a statement. "The United States, as well as more than 40 Allies and partner countries, are working around the clock to expedite shipments of arms and equipment essential to Ukraine’s defence.”
The war, which the Kremlin describes as a "special military operation," has ended up killing thousands of civilians and thrown millions of Ukrainians homeless reducing cities to rubble. Russia has little to show for it beyond a strip of territory in southern Ukraine and marginal gains in the eastern part of the country.
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