WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday pledged an additional $1.3 billion in new weapons and economic aid to help Ukraine in its struggling but increasingly difficult fight against Russian invasion, announcing that he is committed to the Congress will use to authorize many more resources for weapons, ammunition and cash flow.
The recent military aid, the president explained, is being sent “straight to the front lines of freedom.”
“Putin expects us to lose interest,” Biden said. The Russian president is betting that “Western unity will break… and once again we will prove him wrong.”
The new package includes $800 million in military aid for much-needed heavy artillery, as well as 144,000 rounds of ammunition and drones for the escalating battle in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region. The package complements about $2.6 billion in military aid previously approved by Biden.
There is also a new $500 million in direct economic aid to Ukraine, which will be used for government payrolls, pensions and other programs. That brings total US economic support to $1 billion since Russia began invading nearly two months ago.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his thanks but said his nation needs even more, up to $7 billion a month to offset economic losses, in addition to arms and money for the war.
With thousands of buildings damaged and critical infrastructure reduced to rubble, “we will need hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild,” Zelenskyy said, speaking virtually at a World Bank meeting in Washington.
Biden underscored the need for the United States and Western allies to give strong support to Ukraine amid signs Americans may be growing increasingly wary of war.
Americans’ desire to get involved in the war has waned somewhat, according to a poll released Thursday by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. 32% of respondents say the United States should play an important role in the conflict. This shows a 40% drop over the last month, although it’s slightly higher than February’s 26%. Another 49% say Washington should have less of a stake.
The President also announced that ships linked to Russia would be barred from entering US ports, although this appeared largely symbolic. Russian ships bring a small portion of the cargo that remains in the United States, and “my guess is that … a large portion of that came from tankers carrying Russian oil, which is already banned anyway,” Colin Grabow said. a researcher studying commerce at the Cato Institute.
Overall, Biden said $6.5 billion in security aid Congress approved for Ukraine last month in a $13.6 billion package could soon “phase out.” With his latest announcement, the President has approved around $3.4 billion in military aid since Feb. 24. The total from Congress also included about $6.8 billion in direct financial assistance to help care for refugees and economic support for allies in the war-affected region, as well as additional funds for federal agencies to oversee the implementation of economic sanctions against Russia and provide protection against cyber threats.
“Next week I have to submit an additional budget request to Congress to keep guns and ammunition stationed without interruption,” Biden said.
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Associated Press writers Ben Fox, Alan Fram, Fatima Hussein, Chris Megerian, Zeke Miller, and Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.