US President Joe Biden said Thursday his government was committing over $8 billion in military assistance to Ukraine to help Kyiv “win this war” as Russian invaders continued to lay siege to the capital.
Making a significant pledge, he welcomed President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the White House for his first visit a little more than two weeks after the start of a Russian invasion.
US President Joe Biden announced more than $8 billion in military aid for Ukraine on Thursday to help Kyiv “win this war” against Russian invaders, leveraging a visit by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to make a significant commitment.
The package consists of the first flight of an exact-guidance glide bomb named the Joint Standoff Weapon. This Medium-range missile would give the country a much-needed boost in the type of armaments it is resorting to bombing Russian forces with, as Ukrainians can attack from safer distances.
The bomb, which could strike with high accuracy, is to be dropped from fighter jets. Biden will not say that Washington would let Ukraine use US missiles to hit targets deeper in Russia, a US official said.
Supporting Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February 2022, has been a US top priority, Biden said in a statement.
That is why, today, I’m announcing a surge in security assistance for Ukraine and a series of additional actions to help Ukraine win this war, said Biden, who leaves office in January.
Most of that $5.5 billion must be obligated by Monday, the end of the US fiscal year, when the funding authority expires.
Another $2.4 billion is for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows the administration to buy weaponry for Ukraine from manufacturers rather than withdraw it from US inventories.
Biden said this will provide Ukraine with additional air defense, unmanned aerial systems, and air-to-ground munitions while further strengthening Ukraine’s defense industrial base and supporting its maintenance and sustainment needs.
Under his plan, the president said the Defense Department would refurbish and provide Ukraine with an additional Patriot air defense battery and more Patriot missiles.
