Dailymaverick logo

Newsdeck

This article is more than 3 years old

New US aid to Ukraine

U.S. announces additional $800 million in military aid to Ukraine

WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday announced an additional $800 million in military assistance to Ukraine, saying it hopes to provide new capabilities tailored to a wider Russian assault expected in eastern Ukraine.
U.S. announces additional $800 million in military aid to Ukraine epa09886382 A man looks at the debris of a destroyed Russian tank in Bohdanivka village, Kyiv area, Ukraine, 12 April 2022. Some cities and villages have recently been recaptured by the Ukrainian army from Russian forces withdrawing, and now people try to restore normal life there. On 24 February Russian troops had entered Ukrainian territory resulting in fighting and destruction in the country, a huge flow of refugees, and multiple sanctions against Russia. EPA-EFE/SERGEY DOLZHENKO

The latest aid, which brings the total aid tally since Russian forces invaded in February to more than $2.5 billion, includes artillery systems, artillery rounds and armored personnel carriers, Biden said in a statement after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The new security assistance package - first reported by Reuters on Tuesday - will be funded using Presidential Drawdown Authority, or PDA, in which the president can authorize the transfer of articles and services from U.S. stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency. Read full story

Zelenskiy has been pleading with U.S. and European leaders to provide heavier arms and equipment as his country faces an invasion that has killed thousands and displaced millions.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a "special operation" to destroy Ukraine's military capabilities and capture what it views as dangerous nationalists, but Ukraine and the West say Russia launched an unprovoked war of aggression.

 

(Reporting by Mike Stone and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Will Dunham)

Comments (0)

Scroll down to load comments...