US to release US$2.3 billion in new military aid for Ukraine
- Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said package includes ‘more air defence inceptors, anti-tank weapons and other critical munitions from US inventories’
The United States will soon supply Ukraine with a further US$2.3 billion in military aid to bolster its almost 30-month fight against invading Russian forces.
The package approved by US President Joe Biden includes “more air defence inceptors, anti-tank weapons and other critical munitions from US inventories,” Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday during a visit to Washington by his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov.
A realignment of military supplies by other countries will also allow the US to provide ammunition for Patriot and other air defence systems “in an accelerated time frame”, Austin said.
The new supplies come under one of several tranches provided since the US Congress released funds totalling some US$61 billion to Ukraine in late April.
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Since Russian launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US provided Kyiv with military aid totalling more than US$50 billion, according to the Pentagon.