The US Department of Defense announced on Friday that the US will provide Ukraine with an additional $300 million in security assistance.
In a press release, the department said it had briefed Congress on “additional assistance activities under the supervision of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).”
The money is intended to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses against the Russian invasion that has been going on for more than a month.
This package includes tactical secure communications systems, an unmanned defense system, non-standard machine guns and other defense systems.
“This decision underscores the United States’ unwavering commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine in support of its heroic efforts to deter Russia’s chosen war,” the Defense Department said.
Since the beginning of the war, the US has given Ukraine more than $2.3 billion in defense aid.
The money came on the same day a US official told the New York Times that the US would help allies give Ukraine Soviet tanks in response to an appeal by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The official, who spoke to the outlet on condition of anonymity, did not give a specific timeline for the tanks to be handed over, but said it would happen soon.
So far, the US has provided Ukraine with military and humanitarian resources and imposed withering economic sanctions on Russian institutions and officials with close ties to the Kremlin.
Additionally, in early March, Congress passed a massive government funding bill that included $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine.
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However, the Biden administration and other Western leaders have stopped granting Zelenskyy’s request from a no-fly zone to protect the country’s airspace.
President Biden himself said the US would not declare a no-fly zone to keep the country out of direct conflict with nuclear power Russia.
NATO countries have been careful not to get directly involved in the war, but have pledged to intervene should Russia attack any member of the alliance.
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