On Saturday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the US would be providing Ukraine with a new weapons package worth nearly $1 billion.
The package, which is worth $988 million, is being provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows the US to purchase weapons for Ukraine.
According to the Pentagon, the weapons package includes ammunition for the HIMARS rocket systems, drones, and “equipment, components, and spare parts to maintain, repair, and overhaul artillery systems, tanks, and armored vehicles.”
Austin announced the new military aid in remarks at the Reagan National Defense Forum, where he called for the incoming administration to “build” on what the Biden administration had done.
“So the baton will soon be passed. And others will decide the course ahead. And I hope that they will build on the strength that we have forged over the past four years,” Austin said.
The Biden administration has been working to ship as many weapons as possible to Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated.
In recent months, President Biden signed off on several significant escalations in the proxy war, including supporting long-range strikes on Russian territory and the provision of widely banned anti-personnel mines to Ukraine. Biden officials have also been calling for Ukraine to lower the conscription age from 18 to 25 so younger Ukrainians are sent to fight.
Biden asked Congress for an additional $24 billion to spend on the proxy war, but the request was rejected by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who said any decisions on Ukraine aid would be up to Trump.
Source: AntiWar.
