US announces $6 billion long-term military aid package for Ukraine
CNN
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Friday a $6 billion long-term military aid package for Ukraine — the largest to date — which will allow the US to purchase new equipment produced by the American defense industry for the Ukrainian military.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Friday a $6 billion long-term military aid package for Ukraine — the largest to date — which will allow the US to purchase new equipment produced by the American defense industry for the Ukrainian military. “This is the largest security assistance package that we’ve committed to date. It will include critical interceptors for Ukraine’s patriot and NASAMS air defense systems, more counter drone systems and support equipment, significant amounts of artillery ammunition, and air to ground munitions and maintenance and sustainment support,” Austin said during a press conference on Friday. The announcement comes just days after the US announced a $1 billion package that would quickly provide equipment to Ukraine from US stocks, following President Joe Biden’s signing of a much delayed $95 billion supplemental aid package on Wednesday. Biden said moments after signing the legislation that shipments of aid to Ukraine would begin within hours. Equipment under the $6 billion package announced Friday, however, will take much longer to arrive. Unlike drawdown packages which pull military equipment directly from US stocks, Friday’s aid announcement falls under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which contracts with industry to procure the equipment. The USAI is intended to provide Ukraine with a long-term supply of weapons and equipment. Austin said Friday that the timeline for delivery would depend on what systems are purchased, but that the Pentagon is “going to move as fast as we can to get them the capability as fast as industry can produce.”
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