"Make no mistake, Ukraine is not alone": U.S. Announces New $2.3B Security Package For Ukraine
The United States on Tuesday announced a new $2.3 billion security package for Kyiv as a trio of top Ukrainian officials visited Washington for a day-long talks with the Biden administration to shore up plans for the upcoming NATO Summit, TURAN’s Washington correspondent reports.
The delegation, led by Presidential adviser Andriy Yermak, included Defense Minister Rustem Umerov and Energy Minister German Galushchenko and they met separately with senior Biden administration officials at the White House, as well as the State and Defence Departments to work through some of those issues before the summit.
Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin previewed a new military assistance package during his meeting with Minister Umerov at the Pentagon. “This package under presidential drawdown authority will provide more air defense interceptors, anti-tank weapons, and other critical weapons from U.S. inventories,” he said. The package will also enable the U.S. to procure more Patriot and NASAMs air defense interceptors, which will be provided on an accelerated timeline.
“Make no mistake, Ukraine is not alone,” Austin said. “The United States will never waver, and our support alongside some 50 allies and partners will continue to provide the critical capabilities that Ukraine needs to push back Russian aggression today and to deter Russian aggression tomorrow.”
Separately, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Andriy Yermak discussed NATO members’ intention to bring Ukraine closer to the alliance. “They spoke about a number of issues, including the upcoming Washington NATO Summit and allies’ intention to bring Ukraine closer to NATO membership and helping to strengthen Ukraine’s ability to defend against Russian aggression,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told a daily briefing.
When asked by TURAN whether Blinken came out of the meeting with a better sense of Ukraine’s current urgent needs on the battlefield, Patel said, “we are unequivocally paying close attention to what are Ukraine’s needs. In addition to, of course, Mr. Yermak, we remain in touch with a number of officials in the Ukrainian Government as well, as they continue to defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity against Russia.”
He added: “The United States is continuing to work on an additional security assistance package. I expect we’ll have more to say in the forthcoming. But we are acutely aware about what Ukraine’s needs are, and we’re continuing to work hand in hand with them to ensure that they have what they need for their defense.”