US to 'continue to cut' aid to Ukraine before Trump takes office – nationally
President Joe Biden said Monday the United States will send an estimated $2.5 billion more in weapons to Ukraine as his administration moves quickly to use all available funds to help Kyiv fight Russia before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The package includes $1.25 billion in the president's drawdown authority, which allows the military to remove existing stocks from their shelves and get weapons to the battlefield faster. It also has $1.22 billion in long-term weapons packages to be included in the deal through the separate Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, or USAI.
Biden said all of USAI's long-term funds have been used up and he wants to fully utilize all remaining drawdown funds before leaving office.
“I have directed my administration to continue providing substantial assistance to Ukraine as quickly as possible,” Biden said in a statement. “Under my direction, the United States will continue to work diligently to strengthen Ukraine's position in this conflict for the remainder of my term in office.”
In addition to arms support, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Monday that the US is also providing $3.4 billion in economic aid to Ukraine to help pay for essential government services during its conflict with Russia. This money will pay salaries to the government of citizens and school workers, health workers and first responders.
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The new military aid comes as Russia has launched a series of attacks on Ukraine's power facilities in recent days, although Ukraine has said it intercepted a number of missiles and drones. Russian and Ukrainian forces are also engaged in heavy fighting around the Russian border region of Kursk, where Moscow has sent thousands of North Korean troops to help retake territory seized by Ukraine.
The Biden administration is pushing to get weapons from Ukraine to give Kyiv as strong a negotiating position as possible before Trump's inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump talked about finding some kind of diplomatic agreement between Ukraine and Russia and praised Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Many American and European leaders are concerned that Trump's rhetoric about the deal could lead to a bad deal in Ukraine, and they are concerned that he will not give Ukraine all the arms funding authorized by Congress.
Weapons systems to be released from the existing arsenals with this latest weapons package include unmanned aerial weapons, anti-aircraft weapons, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) ammunition, 155mm and 105mm artillery shells, air-to-ground weapons, anti. -weapon systems, tube-launched missiles, fragmentation bombs, and other items and components.
Including Monday's announcement, the US has provided more than $65 billion in security aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022.
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