New Delhi: The United States is preparing a military aid of more than $2 billion for Ukraine. The aid is expected to include longer-range rockets for the first time, other munitions, and weapons, two US officials told Reuters on Tuesday.
According to the officials, the weapons aid is expected to be announced as soon as this week. The aid is also expected to include support equipment for Patriot air defense systems, precision-guided munitions, and Javelin anti-tank weapons, officials further stated, as reported by Reuters.
This comes after United States President Joe Biden on Monday said that the US would not provide the F-16 fighter jets sought by Ukraine in its battle against Russia
One of the officials stated that a portion of the package, expected to be $1.725 billion, would come from a fund known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) which allows President Joe Biden's administration to get weapons from industry rather than from existing US weapons stocks.
According to Reuters, the USAI funds would go towards the purchase of a new weapon, the Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) made by Boeing Co (BA.N), which has a range of 94 miles (150 km). The United States has rebuffed Ukraine's requests for the 185-mile (297-km) range ATACMS missile.
The longer range of the GLSDB glide bomb could allow Ukraine to hit targets that have been out of reach and help it continue pressing its counterattacks by disrupting Russia further. According to SAAB's website, GLSDB is GPS-guided, can defeat some electronic jamming and is usable in all weather conditions.
The funds from USAI would also be used to pay for more components of HAWK air defenses, counter-drone systems, counter artillery and air surveillance radars, communications equipment, PUMA drones, and spare parts for major systems like Patriot and Bradley, one of the officials said, as reported by Reuters. Along with the USAI funds, more than $400 million worth of aid was expected to come from Presidential Drawdown Authority funds.
Earlier on Monday, the administrator of Russian-controlled parts of Donetsk province, Denis Pushilin, said that Russian troops secured a foothold in Vuhledar, whose ruins have been a Ukrainian bastion since the beginning of the war, Reuters reported.
According to Ukraine’s general staff, Russia has conducted air strikes and three missile strikes. One of the strikes was in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine. It is also continuing operations in the areas of Bakhmut, Avdiivka, and elsewhere in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been warning for weeks that Moscow is looking to increase its assault after about two months of virtual stalemate along the front line that stretches across the south and east, Reuters reported. Last week, after a months-long deadlock, the US and Germany both agreed to send tanks to Ukraine in its fight against Russia after a number of requests.
The US seems set to start the process to send its M1 Abhram Battle tanks after Germany finally gave in to mounting international pressure and agreed to send at least 12 Leopard 2 tanks.
The decision also attracted a sharp reaction from Russia. The Russian envoy to the US said it would be a 'blatant provocation' the Guardian reported. “If the United States decides to supply tanks, then justifying such a step with arguments about ‘defensive weapons’ will definitely not work. This would be another blatant provocation against the Russian Federation,” the international news daily quoted him as saying on the embassy’s Telegram messaging app on Wednesday.
Responding to the reports, Ukraine President Zelenskyy said that even as Russia was preparing for a new wave of aggression, he had seen “a lot of effort, words, and promises” about tanks.
Earlier, Berlin had set a condition for the US over its supply to Ukraine. Berlin said that German-made tanks will be sent to Ukraine in its fight against Russia if the United States agrees to send its own tanks, news agency Reuters reported citing a Berlin government source.