United States Department of Defense announced an additional military assistance package for Ukraine including air defense systems, artillery rounds, and anti-tank missiles.
The latest security assistance package for Ukraine is worth about $175 million. The Pentagon statement highlighted that the package would help Ukraine counter Russia’s unprovoked invasion.
The military package for Ukraine included more than 2,000 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, more than 10,000 Javelin anti-armor systems, and more than 2 million 155-mm artillery rounds. The U.S. has also ramped up production of key artillery rounds used most by Ukraine in defending its territory against the invading Russian forces.
The Department of Defense officials also pledged to continue supporting Ukraine while maintaining U.S. readiness. Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, William A. LaPlante said, the Department leaders are closely monitoring U.S. readiness as U.S. support continues
LaPlante said, “Every item that is decided and taken from the U.S. stock and provided to the Ukrainians, the chairman [of the Joint Chiefs] and secretary [of defense] go through it, and they look exactly at what is the effect for readiness… And if they think it’s any impact, negative on readiness, or increases risk… we won’t do it. So, by definition, if it’s taken out of drawdown, the assessment’s been made [that] we can do it and we can manage the risk.”
According to the Department of Defense statement, “The latest tranche is being provisioned as part of the $6.2 billion in presidential drawdown authority restored in June following a reevaluation of the total value of items already committed to Ukraine. As of the end of last month, there was approximately $5.75 billion in restored funding remaining.”
The Biden administration has committed more than $43 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
U.S. Secretary of State Blinken also announced $300 million in new funding for Ukraine’s law enforcement sector to continue to protect Ukraine’s territory and people.
Blinken’s visit to Ukraine
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv on September 6, 2023, to meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. During the two-day unannounced trip, Blinken held discussions on Ukraine’s counteroffensive as well as recovery and reconstruction efforts.
While in Ukraine, Blinken announced a $1 billion worth of military package for Ukraine, including defense systems, HIMARS, Abrams tanks, Javelin, and Stinger missiles, as well as more than three million rounds of small arms ammunition, among other defense equipment.
Met with President @ZelenskyyUA to convey the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine and its people. We stand with Ukraine, for as long as it takes. pic.twitter.com/NugwW6eeKA
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) September 6, 2023
Blinken said during a press conference that he reassured the Ukrainian leadership of the “unwavering U.S. commitment to Ukraine,” adding “We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs not only to succeed in the counteroffensive but has what it needs for the long term to make sure that it has a strong deterrent, strong defense capacity so that, in the future, aggressions like this don’t happen again.”
