WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is expected to announce another $275 million in military aid to Ukraine on Friday as Kiev struggles to stem the advance of Russian troops in the Kharkiv region, two U.S. officials said.
This will be the fourth tranche of military aid to Ukraine since Congress passed a long-delayed foreign aid bill late last month, and comes as the Biden administration has pledged to keep the weapons flowing regularly and deliver them as quickly as possible to the front line.
The package includes high-mobility artillery rocket systems, or HIMARS, as well as 155mm and 105mm high-demand artillery rounds, the two US officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of the relief package before the public announcement.
It follows a monthly meeting on Monday of about 50 defense leaders from Europe and elsewhere who meet regularly to coordinate getting more military aid to Ukraine. At this latest meeting, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Ukraine was in a “moment of challenge” due to Russia’s new attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. He promised to keep the guns moving ‘week after week’.
Russia has sought to take advantage of Ukraine’s manpower and weapons shortages as the war-torn country awaits the arrival of more US aid, which has been delayed for months in Congress. Ukrainian forces have been pushed back in some places, while Russia has targeted its power grid and civilian areas.
In the month since President Joe Biden signed the $95 billion foreign aid package, which included about $61 billion for Ukraine, the U.S. has announced and begun sending nearly $1.7 billion in weapons pulled from the Pentagon’s stockpiles .
$6 billion in funding has also been announced through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. That pays for longer-term contracts with the defense industry and means it could take many months or years for the weapons to arrive.
With this latest package, the US has now provided nearly $51 billion in military aid to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.
