WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden announced an additional $800 million in military assistance to Ukraine, including heavy artillery ahead of a wider Russian assault expected in eastern Ukraine.
The package, which brings the total military aid since Russian forces invaded in February to more than $2.5 billion, includes artillery systems, artillery rounds, armored personnel carriers and unmanned coastal defense boats, Biden said in a statement after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
Biden said he had also approved the transfer of additional helicopters, saying equipment provided to Ukraine “has been critical” as it confronts the invasion. “We cannot rest now. As I assured President Zelenskyy, the American people will continue to stand with the brave Ukrainian people in their fight for freedom,” Biden said in a written statement.
The new package includes 11 Mi-17 helicopters that had been earmarked for Afghanistan before the U.S.-backed government collapsed last year. It also includes 18 155mm howitzers, along with 40,000 artillery rounds, counter-artillery radars, 200 armored personnel carriers and 300 additional “Switchblade” drones.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said some of the systems, like the howitzers and radars, will require additional training for Ukrainian forces not accustomed to using American military equipment. “We’re aware of the clock and we know time is not our friend,” Kirby said when asked about the speed of deliveries.
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The aid will be funded using Presidential Drawdown Authority, or PDA, in which the president can authorize the transfer of articles and services from US stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency.
Executives from the top US weapons makers met with Pentagon officials to discuss the industrial challenges in the event of a protracted Ukraine conflict. These included executives from BAE Systems, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Huntington Ingalls Industries, L3Harris Technologies, Boeing, Raytheon Technologies, and Northrop Grumman.
In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said the discussion “focused primarily on accelerating production and building more capacity across the industrial base for weapons and equipment that can be exported rapidly, deployed with minimal training, and prove effective in the battlefield.”
Zelenskiy has been pleading with US and European leaders to provide heavier arms and equipment. Thousands have been killed and millions displaced in the seven-week-long invasion. On Wednesday, Russia said it had taken control of the southeastern Ukrainian port of Mariupol and more than 1,000 Ukrainian marines have surrendered.
