President Joe Biden announced on Thursday additional $800 million military aid to help Ukraine fight its strong but increasingly difficult battle against the Russian invasion.
The new military package includes much-needed heavy artillery, as well as 144,000 rounds of ammunition and drones for Ukrainian forces in the escalation of the battle for the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. This package is in addition to the approximately $2.6 billion in military aid that Biden had previously approved.
The new military aid leg is expected to include 72 155mm howitzers, 72 tactical vehicles used to tow the howitzers to the battlefield and more than 121 Phoenix Ghost tactical drones, as well as field equipment and spare parts.
The 72 shells are in addition to the 18 announced last week that the United States was going to transfer to Ukraine. In this way, the United States has already provided enough artillery systems to equip five Ukrainian battalions, said John Kirby, Pentagon Press Secretary.
A senior US defense official said that training of Ukrainian personnel on US 155mm howitzers has begun in a European country outside Ukraine.
Biden's decision to quadruple the promised number in a weapons package announced last week reflects what is becoming a major land battle in the disputed Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
The aid, Biden said, will be sent “directly to the front of freedom.” “Putin is betting on us losing interest,” Biden said. The Russian president is betting that “the unity of the West should crack... and once again we will prove it wrong”.
Biden also announced that all ships affiliated with Russia would be banned from entering US ports.
And he announced that the United States would provide an additional $500 million in direct economic aid to the Ukrainian government. This brings total US financial support to $1 billion since the Russian invasion began almost two months ago. He said that the $13.6 billion approved last month by Congress for military and humanitarian aid was “almost exhausted.”
“Next week I will have to send Congress a request for a supplementary budget to keep the deployment of weapons and ammunition uninterrupted,” Biden said. Congress has indicated that it is receptive to further requests and has been hoping that there will be a need for more help for Ukrainians.
Biden did not detail the amount of additional funding he would request, adding that he was consulting with defense officials on the matter.
Biden spoke about the new aid, and more broadly about the situation in Ukraine, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed victory in the strategic city of Mariupol. However, Putin ordered his troops not to risk further losses by storming the last Ukrainian resistance exchange on the most emblematic battlefield of the war.
Russian forces have destroyed much of the southeastern port city, which has witnessed some of the most fierce fighting of the war. According to Russian estimates, some 2,000 Ukrainian forces remain entrenched in a large steel plant, while Russian forces continue to hit the industrial site and repeatedly launch ultimatums for Ukrainian forces to surrender.
Russian troops have besieged the port city since the first days of the conflict and have largely reduced it to ruins.
Biden, in a brief exchange with journalists following his statements, called Russia's claim to Mariupol “questionable”.
Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country will send heavy artillery to Ukraine. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the Netherlands will send more heavy weapons, including armored vehicles.
In recent days, the Russians have deployed more artillery in eastern Ukraine to expand their offensive and try to gain full control of the Donbas, after withdrawing from a failed attempt to capture Kiev, the capital. Heavy weapons such as artillery are expected to play a key role in the fighting in the relatively confined area of Donbas, where Ukrainian separatists and those backed by Russia have been fighting since 2014.
Biden praised U.S. military officials on Wednesday for their “exceptional” armament work in Ukraine, bringing together the nation's military leaders for their first group meeting at the White House of their presidency.
The nearly two-month Russian invasion of Ukraine was the focus of extensive discussions with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and combat commanders.
Announcements about the new aid came in the context of the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, dominated by talks on how to manage the effects of Russia's war on Ukraine.
Biden met earlier on Thursday with the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal.
(With information from AP)
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