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President Biden has authorized $200 million in new security assistance to Ukraine, a White House official told Fox News, bringing total defense assistance to Ukraine last year to $1.2 billion.
Biden’s approval came after a public disagreement with Poland over sending fighter jets to Ukraine. The US is transferring weapons to Ukraine but has refrained from transferring MiGs, saying Russia would see such a move as an escalation.
RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES
Nevertheless, Moscow warned on Saturday that it views any arms shipments to Ukraine as “legitimate targets.”
President Biden speaks at an event in the East Room of the White House on Monday, February 28, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that Russia “warned the US that the transfer of weapons from a number of countries that it organizes is not just a dangerous step, it is an action that makes these convoys legitimate targets.”
This week, Congress approved $13.6 billion in additional aid, including $6.5 billion to send troops and weapons to Eastern Europe and $6.8 billion in refugee and economic aid. Biden plans to sign the additional spending bill when he receives it next week.
In this image from a video provided by the Press Office of the President of Ukraine and posted on Facebook in the early hours of Saturday, March 12, 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Press Service of the President of Ukraine via AP)
The war in Ukraine is now in its 17th day, and on Saturday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said for the first time that Russia had killed about 1,300 Ukrainians. Zelenskiy also said that 500-600 Russian troops surrendered on Friday.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said this week that weapons sent to Ukraine from America and elsewhere are “used to great effect.”
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Kirby said the defense assessment found that “adding aircraft to Ukraine’s arsenal is unlikely to materially change the effectiveness of the Ukrainian air force relative to Russia’s capabilities.”
The map shows the Russian invasion of Ukraine as of Friday, March 11, 2022. (Fox News)
“Therefore, we believe that there is little benefit from the transfer of these MiG-29s,” Kirby said.
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Kyle Morris of Fox News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.