The US Announces Almost $2.5 Billion in Military Aid to Ukraine
30 December, 2024 Illustrative photo of Ukrainian M142 HIMARS. Photo credits: AFU StratCom The United States government has announced nearly £2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine.
The press release from the White House reported on this. It is reported that military assistance was provided under two programs at once - Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) and Presidential Drawdown (PDA). The amount of assistance under USAI is £1.22 billion, and under PDA - £1.25 billion.
A launcher of a Ukrainian Patriot PAC-2 system, June 23. Photo credits: ArmyInform
As previously reported, the allocation of assistance under USAI was announced on December 20. "As I committed earlier this year, the Department of Defense has now allocated all remaining USAI funds appropriated by Congress in the supplemental that I signed in April, and my Administration is fully utilizing the funding appropriated by Congress to support the drawdown of U.S. equipment for Ukraine," said US President Joe Biden.
Biden said that the U.S. Department of Defense was in the process of delivering hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets, and hundreds of armored vehicles to Ukraine to strengthen the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the winter. The content of the new military aid packages remains unknown.
Military assistance from the United States
Militarnyi previously reported that the U.S.
Presidential Administration had surged the supply of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine. A senior U.S. administration official told CNN that the White House had been directing resources to deliver the previously promised weapons to Kyiv before President Joe Biden would leave office. The Pentagon is now conducting sealifts and airlifts to meet the delivery deadline.
Sending military aid from the United States to Ukraine.
2022. USA. Photo credits: dvidshub.net
Those efforts were in sharp contrast to the policy of the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who in an interview with Time magazine had sharply criticized the recent US decision to allow Ukraine to use US weapons to strike at Russian territory.
In the latest show of support for Ukraine, the Biden administration announced a £500 million military aid package on December 12.
This £500 million tranche includes a wide range of ammunition and military equipment from the U.S.
Army stockpiles.