US announces final $250 million military aid package to Ukraine
The U.S. State Department announced a $250 million military aid package to Ukraine on Wednesday, the last of its kind that the United States will provide to Ukraine until Congress approves the requests. funding from the Biden administration.
“This package provides up to $250 million in weapons and equipment under previously requested reductions for Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. “Capabilities provided in this package include air defense munitions, other components of air defense systems, additional munitions for 155mm and 105mm high mobility rocket artillery systems, anti-armor munitions and more than 15 million cartridges.
Last week, the Biden administration said it would announce a final security package for Ukraine this year, but it would be the last one the United States could provide without approval from lawmakers. Defense Department Comptroller Mike McCord said in a letter to Congress that “once these funds are obligated, the Department will have exhausted funds available for security assistance to Ukraine.”
This package marks the limit of the United States’ ability to provide weapons to Ukraine without additional funding from Congress. The Biden administration has asked Congress for an additional package including more than $60 billion in aid to Ukraine. But the legislation is currently stalled as negotiators try to find a compromise on border security and immigration policy, key Republican demands under any deal.
The administration has repeatedly warned that its ability to provide aid to Ukraine is rapidly diminishing, forcing the Pentagon to stretch what it has left into smaller aid packages.
“It is imperative that Congress act quickly, as soon as possible, to advance our national security interests by helping Ukraine defend itself and secure its future,” Blinken said.
Earlier this month, the United States announced security packages worth $200 million and $175 million, relatively small compared to the much larger aid packages the administration has been able to send in the past. The United States has sent more than $46 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.
This aid package announced Wednesday falls under the “presidential withdrawal” authority, which is taken directly from U.S. stockpiles and can be shipped quickly to Ukraine. The United States has already exhausted the other key form of assistance, the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows the Defense Department to contract with weapons manufacturers to purchase weapons for kyiv.