WASHINGTON. President Biden is expected to announce more than $1 billion in new military aid to the government of Ukraine as early as Wednesday, according to US officials, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to ask Congress for more defense aid. their country against the Russian invasion.
The $1.01 billion sum is expected to include the same types of military hardware the US says Ukrainians need most: anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, including man-portable air defenses such as the Javelin and Stinger. The money will come from the roughly $13.6 billion earmarked for Ukraine in the consolidated budget bill Mr. Biden signed on Tuesday. The package Mr. Biden will announce includes more than $200 million in weekend support and about $800 million more in new funding, totaling more than $1 billion.
While the White House is considering sending additional troops to Europe in addition to the roughly 15,000 troops deployed there since the Russian-Ukrainian crisis began, Biden is not expected to deploy additional troops at this time, US officials said.
“We are urgently moving forward to further increase support for the courageous people of Ukraine in defending their country,” President Biden said Tuesday, without providing further details. “And tomorrow I will have much more to say about this, about what exactly we are doing in Ukraine.”
Senators and members of the House of Representatives from both parties have urged the administration to provide Ukraine with as much military support as possible, and in his virtual address to Congress on Wednesday, Mr. Zelensky is expected to appeal to that support.
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On Tuesday, Mr. Zelenskiy spoke before the Canadian parliament calling for a no-fly zone, asking lawmakers to stop Russia in its bid to “destroy” Ukraine.
“This is a difficult situation, but it has also allowed us to see who our real friends are over the past 20 days,” Mr. Zelensky said.
But Pentagon officials and others say some forms of support won’t help Ukrainians and could bring the US into direct conflict with Russia inside Ukraine. These officials oppose the establishment of a no-fly zone, believing it would not stop Russian cruise missiles from being launched from Russian territory and could require US and North Atlantic Treaty Organization aircraft to shoot down Russian aircraft. The Pentagon also refused to support a separate proposal to supply Polish fighter jets to Ukraine via the US, arguing that the Ukrainians were not using the fighters they already had. The Pentagon also mentioned logistical problems with the delivery of aircraft to Ukraine.
Soldiers and volunteers retreated from fighting in Irpin, Ukraine on Saturday.
Photo: Christopher Ochikone for the Wall Street Journal
The new support came after U.S. officials said over the weekend that Moscow had turned to Beijing for economic military aid in the aftermath of the invasion. China does not want to distance itself from Russia, and Moscow and Beijing deny that Russia has asked China for military assistance.
The US is still in the process of sending Ukraine the final tranche of about $350 million in arms aid. Since 2014, the U.S. has provided $2.5 billion worth of military aid before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, according to Defense Department officials.
Write to Gordon Lubold at [email protected], Vivian Salama at [email protected] and Nancy A. Youssef at [email protected]
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Appeared in the March 16, 2022 print edition titled “Biden to Announce New $1 Billion Aid.”