US announces $400 million military aid package for Ukraine
CNN
The US announced on Friday a new $400 million military aid package to Ukraine.
The US announced on Friday a new $400 million military aid package to Ukraine. The package includes weapons Ukraine has been asking for, including Patriot missile system munitions, High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMAR) systems and ammunition, Stinger anti-air missiles, 155mm artillery rounds, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs), among other equipment. “As President Biden has made clear, the United States and the international coalition we have assembled will continue to stand with Ukraine in its defense of its freedom,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement. The announcement marks the second Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package since President Joe Biden signed a long-delayed national security supplemental securing $60 billion in funding for Ukraine. Last month, just moments after Biden signed the legislation, the US announced a $1 billion PDA package to Ukraine. Biden said at the time that shipments of the equipment to Ukraine would begin “in the next few hours.” And just two days later, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a historic $6 billion long-term investment package to purchase new equipment for Ukraine. The $6 billion package — the largest the US has announced — is under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). USAI is different from than the PDA package in that it contracts with the US defense industry to purchase new equipment, whereas PDAs pull equipment from existing US stocks.
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