US pledges another $2.6B in military aid for Ukraine

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced $2.6 billion in additional military aid for Ukraine.

The package includes $500 million in weapons and equipment from U.S. stocks, including munitions for Patriot air defense systems, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), TOW missiles, grenade launchers, heavy fuel tankers and vehicles, and various other ammunition, artillery and mortar rounds.

It marks the 35th such drawdown of U.S. lethal aid for Ukraine since August 2021.

The administration is also doling out $2.1 billion in aid via the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, in which Washington buys weapons and equipment directly from industry rather than drawing on Pentagon stocks.

The dollars are meant to give Ukraine a “significant package of air defense capabilities, as well as artillery and tank ammunition, mortar systems, rockets, and anti-armor systems,” according to a Defense Department announcement.

That package will include additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), counter-unmanned aerial system 30mm gun trucks, mobile laser-guided rocket systems, air surveillance radars, Javelin anti-armor systems, vehicles and fuel tankers, as well as various rockets, precision munitions and ammunition.

“This new security assistance will allow Ukraine to continue to bravely defend itself against Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified war,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a separate State Department release.

“Russia alone could end its war today. Until Russia does, the United States and our allies and partners will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”

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