BIDEN ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS NEW $988M US MILITARY AID PACKAGE FOR UKRAINE

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has announced that the United States will provide nearly $1bn in additional military aid to war-torn Ukraine, as it attempts to fend off an ongoing Russian invasion.

In unveiling the aid package on Saturday, Austin offered some pointed remarks aimed at the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump.

“The baton will soon be passed,” Austin said. “Others will decide the course ahead. And I hope that they will build on the strength that we have forged over the past four years.”

The package, valued at $988m, comes on the heels of a separate $725m in military assistance announced on December 2.

The latest announcement includes drones and munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARs) that the US has previously provided.

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In total, the US has given $62bn in military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.

But the latest rush of funds and supplies to Ukraine arrives in the waning days of President Joe Biden’s administration. His term is set to end on January 20, when Trump takes office.

Under Trump, it is unclear whether the US will continue its support for Ukraine. Trump has threatened to pull funding from Ukraine’s fight and other military alliances, including NATO.

Speaking at a meeting of national security officials at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California, Austin briefly addressed the uncertainty ahead.

“This administration has made its choice. So has a bipartisan coalition in Congress. The next administration must make its own choice,” Austin said.

He added that Reagan, a Republican icon, “would have stood on the side of Ukraine, American security and human freedom”.

The Biden administration has largely been using “presidential drawdown authority” to withdraw excess defence materials from US stockpiles and transfer them to Ukraine, without congressional approval.

Approximately $6bn remains in the president’s hands under his drawdown authority.

But Saturday’s $988m package comes instead from the $2.21bn remaining in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows for the purchase of weapons and military supplies.

The USAI is designed to supply Ukraine with longer-term weapons systems to bolster its military capabilities.

Trump, meanwhile, participated in a brief, closed-door meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Saturday.

Both were in Paris, France, to celebrate the reopening of the Notre Dame cathedral.

When Trump campaigned for re-election earlier this year in Savannah, Georgia, Trump criticised Zelenskyy as the “greatest salesman on Earth” for extracting military aid from the US.

“Every time Zelenskyy comes to the United States, he walks away with $100bn,” Trump said, citing a made-up statistic.

He blamed Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, his rival in the presidential race, for enmeshing the US in Ukrainian affairs.

“I will settle the war in Ukraine and end the chaos in the Middle East,” he added. “Biden and Kamala got us into this war in Ukraine, and now they can’t get us out.”

He added, “We’re stuck in that war unless I’m president.”

Trump has made clear he plans to pursue an “America First” policy during his second term.