2024-04-27 05:00:56
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced today a new tranche of $6 billion in aid to Ukraine as Washington tried to catch up with supplies to Kiev after aid to Ukraine was blocked in the US Congress for months, the agencies reported. .
The new tranche is the second one announced this week, after one billion dollars of aid was announced for Kyiv on Wednesday, BTA writes.
These two sums are part of the $61 billion aid package for Kiev that was finally approved this week by the US Congress and confirmed with the signature of US President Joe Biden.
While the $1 billion in aid approved Wednesday will come from the U.S. military’s stockpiles, the one announced today will be provided through contracts with the defense industry or with partners. This means that this aid will need more time to reach the battlefield.
After signing a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine on Wednesday, President Biden promised to send plenty of weapons to Kiev quickly.
The United States is Kiev’s main military backer, but the US Congress had not approved much aid for Ukraine for nearly a year and a half – largely because of cross-party disagreements.
Before this week, Washington had provided aid to Ukraine only once this year – $300 million in aid last month, made possible only by Pentagon savings, AFP noted.
Congressional approval of the aid package came as a relief to Ukraine’s military, which is short on personnel and ammunition and under constant pressure from Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.