US To Announce Another $400 Million In Military Aid To Ukraine
The United States plans to announce yet another military aid package to exacerbate the Russia-Ukraine war — reportedly planning to send up to $400 worth of military aid including artillery, air defense missiles and ground vehicles.
On Friday, three U.S. officials revealed that the federal government was planning to announce the military aid package as soon as Tuesday. The package will include several Stryker armored personnel carriers, munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, anti-tank weapons including TOW and Javelin, as well as munitions for Patriot and Stinger anti-aircraft systems, the officials stated.
The military aid package, which is still in the process of being finalized and has the potential to change, would be funded via the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) — which gives President Joe Biden the authority to transfer articles and services from the United States’ stockpile without the approval of Congress during an emergency. According to the Washington Free Beacon, “The material will come from U.S. excess inventory.”
The soon-to-be-announced aid package would be the 43rd sent by the U.S. to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in February 2022, totaling more than $41 billion.
While the U.S. has already sent some cluster bombs to Ukraine, they reportedly do not plan to include the controversial munitions in the new military aid package. The Biden administration sent dual-purpose improved conventional munitions — which is a cluster bomb fired from a 155-millimeter Howitzer cannon — to Ukraine earlier this month in spite of serious concerns raised by members of both parties about the dangers these weapons pose to civilians long after they are used.
“These munitions scatter bomblets across the landscape. Many fail to explode — until children pick them up later. They have caused thousands of injuries and deaths to civilians,” Democrat presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tweeted, condemning the Biden administration’s decision.
The $400 million in military aid comes after the Biden administration faced significant backlash for a supposed “accounting error” that gave Ukraine an extra $6.2 billion over the last two years — which was split between a $3.6 billion shortfall this fiscal year and a $2.6 billion shortfall in fiscal year 2022.
