President Biden announced nearly $6 billion in funding military aid package for Ukraine on Monday that Biden’s administration is sending to Ukraine ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
President Joe Biden announced on Monday nearly $2.5 billion in security assistance for Ukraine, saying the assistance, which includes weapons, will go to giving Kyiv “the support it needs to prevail” against the larger and better-equipped Russian forces. Biden said in a statement: “At my direction, the United States will continue to work relentlessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in this war over the remainder of my time in office. Since Russia launched its further assault against Ukraine in February 2022, the United States has rallied the world to stand with the Ukrainian people, and it has been a top priority of mine to provide Ukraine with the support it needs to prevail. [The aid] builds on this effort and will provide Ukraine with both an immediate influx of capabilities to use to great effect on the battlefield and longer-term supplies of air defense, artillery, and other critical weapons systems.”
Biden said the assistance includes a $1.25 billion drawdown package for the Ukrainian military and a $1.22 billion Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package (USAI) signed earlier this year, as part of a $95 billion foreign aid package that included nearly $61 billion in military and economic funding for Ukraine, $17 billion in military assistance for Israel, $9 billion for Gaza and other war-torn regions and $8.1 billion for Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific allies.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement that another $3.4 billion in “direct budget support” are the final disbursement appropriated under the bipartisan Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriation Act 2024: “our direct budget support continues to be conditioned on reforms related to strengthening law enforcement, improving transparency and efficiency of government institutions, and bolstering anti-corruption rules and procedures.”
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