US to send munitions, military vehicles to Ukraine in latest aid package - GulfToday

US to send munitions, military vehicles to Ukraine in latest aid package

  • 15 Oct 2022
Russia-Ukraine-war-main1-750

The United States is expected to include munitions and military vehicles as assistance package for Ukraine.

A new $725 million security assistance package for Ukraine from the United States is expected to include munitions and military vehicles but not significant new capabilities or counter-air defenses, two US officials briefed on the aid told the media on Friday.

The package is the first since Russia's barrage of missiles fired on civilian population centers in Ukraine this week. It would bring the total of US security assistance since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 to more than $17.5 billion.

READ MORE

Iran activists call for new mass protests as Biden voices support

Israeli forces kill 3 Palestinians in West Bank

US President Joe Biden issued a statement delegating the Secretary of State "to direct the drawdown of up to $725 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defence, and military education and training" to aid Ukraine.

One of the officials said that while the aid package was not expected to include material to defeat missile attacks, it was designed to bolster Ukraine's ability to beat back Russia in the counter offensive that has yielded large territorial gains in recent weeks.

Ukraine-US-Embassy-Aug23-main1-750
A man walks past the US Embassy in Ukraine, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues in Kyiv. File/Reuters

Separately, Ukraine expects the United States and Germany to deliver sophisticated anti-aircraft systems this month to help it counter attacks by Russian missiles and kamikaze drones, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Friday.

Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) allows them to be shipped to Ukraine in the coming days. It allows the United States to transfer defense articles and services from stocks quickly without congressional approval in response to an emergency.

This is the second PDA package of the U.S. government's 2023 fiscal year which is functioning under a stop-gap funding measure and allows Biden to tap up to $3.7 billion in surplus weapons for transfer to Ukraine through mid-December.

In general, to finance weapons for Ukraine, including the sophisticated anti-aircraft NASAMS systems expected this month, Washington uses funds from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) to procure weapons from industry, rather than pulling them from existing U.S. weapons stocks.

NASAMS are made by Raytheon Technologies Corp and Norway's Kongsberg.

Reuters

 

Related articles

Russia to expel more American diplomats in tit-for-tat move

Washington last month said it was expelling 12 Russian diplomats at the country's UN mission in New York over national security concerns, and later announced it would oust an additional Russian at the UN who it said was a spy.

24 Mar 2022

US official says Russia seeking military aid from China

In advance of the talks, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan bluntly warned China to avoid helping Russia evade punishment from global sanctions that have hammered the Russian economy. "We will not allow that to go forward,” he said.

14 Mar 2022

Russia likely behind US military document leak, US officials say

The documents appear to have been altered to lower the number of casualties suffered by Russian forces, the US officials said, adding their assessments were informal and separate from the investigation into the leak itself.

08 Apr 2023

Russia, US release prisoners in surprise exchange

The swap, the culmination of longstanding requests by both countries as well as private diplomatic wrangling, took place in Turkey when "the two planes pulled up side by side, essentially, and then they got out,” said Reed's father, Joey.

28 Apr 2022

Most Popular Stories

Other Articles

Woman wheels corpse into Brazil bank to sign for loan

Erika Vieira Nunes wheeled the cadaver into the bank in a Rio suburb on Tuesday and told the teller the man wanted a loan for 17,000 reais ($3,250), security camera video showed. She held a pen and moved his hand forward to no response.

4 hours ago

Palestinian woman with dead niece image wins World Press Photo award

The picture taken by Reuters news agency's Mohammed Salem shows Inas Abu Maamar cradling the body of five-year-old Saly, who was killed with her mother and sister when a missile hit their home in Khan Younis in October.

4 hours ago

Pakistan ambassador lauds Dubai’s Consulate team efforts in wake of recent rain in UAE

A separate team of the Consulate General also paid a courtesy visit to Pakistani cricket players Misbah-Ul Haq, Abdur Razzaq, Umer Gul and Kamran Akmal waiting at Dubai Airport due to delayed flight en route to Houston, USA.

6 hours ago

Abu Dhabi Police warn public of social media scams exploiting events

The Police urged to avoid clicking on suspicious links and not to share confidential information with anyone, whether it's your account information, card details, online banking passwords, personal identification numbers for ATMs, or security code (CCV) or passwords..

7 hours ago