WASHINGTON, April 13 – U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced an additional $800 million in military aid to Ukraine, expanding the scope of deployed systems to include heavy artillery ahead of a broader Russian attack launched in of eastern Ukraine is expected. Continue reading
The package, which brings total military aid to more than $2.5 billion since Russian forces invaded in February, includes artillery systems, artillery shells, armored personnel carriers and unmanned coastal defense boats, Biden said in a statement after a phone call with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Biden said he also authorized the transfer of additional helicopters, saying the equipment provided to Ukraine was “critical” as it faces the invasion.
“We can’t rest now. As I have assured President Zelenskyy, the American people will continue to stand by the brave people of Ukraine in their struggle for freedom,” Biden said in a written statement.
The new package includes 11 Mi-17 helicopters that were earmarked for Afghanistan before the collapse of the US-backed government last year. It also includes 18 155mm howitzers, along with 40,000 artillery shells, counter-artillery radars, 200 armored personnel carriers and 300 additional “Switchblade” drones.
This was the first time howitzers were supplied to Ukraine by the United States.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said some of the systems, such as howitzers and radars, will require additional training for Ukrainian forces unaccustomed to using American military equipment.
“We are aware of the clock and we know that time is not our friend,” Kirby said when asked about the speed of deliveries.
“BIGGER, MORE POWERFUL WEAPONS”
U.S. President Joe Biden discusses the United States’ response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and warns CEOs of possible cyberattacks from Russia at the Business Roundtable’s CEO Quarterly Meeting in Washington, DC, U.S. March 21, 2022. REUTERS/Leah Millis
The new aid – first reported by Reuters on Tuesday – will be funded through the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), where the president can authorize the transfer of items and services from US stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency. Continue reading
John Spencer, a retired US Army major and urban warfare expert at the Madison Policy Forum, said he was excited to see the United States deploy artillery and artillery shells.
“You need these bigger, more powerful weapons … to match what Russia is bringing to try and take eastern Ukraine,” Spencer said.
As news broke of the latest security aid, executives from top US arms manufacturers met with Pentagon officials to discuss the industrial challenges in the event of a protracted Ukraine conflict.
These included executives from BAE Systems Plc (BAES.L), General Dynamics Corp (GD.N), Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII.N), L3Harris Technologies (LHX.N), Boeing Co (BA.N), Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N) and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N).
In a statement, Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said the discussion “is primarily focused on accelerating production and building more capacity across the arms and equipment industrial base that can be rapidly exported, deployed with minimal training, and deployed on the battlefield.” can be effectively proven”.
Zelenskyy has asked US and European leaders to provide heavier weapons and equipment. Thousands were killed and millions displaced in the seven-week invasion.
Russia was unable to achieve most of its military objectives as Ukrainians put up more fierce resistance than expected.
Russia is calling its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” to destroy Ukraine’s military capabilities and capture what it sees as dangerous nationalists, but Ukraine and the West say Russia has launched an unprovoked war of aggression.
On Wednesday, Russia said it had taken control of the southeastern Ukrainian port of Mariupol and more than 1,000 Ukrainian marines had surrendered.
Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Idrees Ali and Mike Stone; Additional reporting from Humeyra Pamuk, Doina Chiacu and Temis Tormo; Edited by Mary Milliken, Will Dunham, Grant McCool and Cynthia Osterman