US rushes key military supplies to Ukraine
WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday rushed to send ammunition, weapons and other war supplies to Ukraine, ater President Joe Biden signed a much-delayed bill to support the country as it struggles to hold back Russian advances.
The final approval of the legislation comes ater months of political wrangling, during which Ukrainian forces ran short of ammunition and suffered setbacks on the batlefield.
“I just signed into law the national security package that was passed by the House of Representatives this weekend, and by the Senate yesterday,” Biden told reporters, saying he is “making sure the shipments start right away, in the next few hours.”
“It’s going to make America safer, it’s going to make the world safer and it continues American leadership in the world and everyone knows it,” he said of the legislation. Minutes ater Biden spoke, the Pentagon announced a $1 billion package for Kyiv using the new funding, including air defense munitions, artillery rounds, ammunition for HIMARS precision rocket launchers, anti-tank weapons and armored vehicles.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky gave thanks on social media on Wednesday.
“I am grateful to President Biden, Congress, and all Americans who recognise that we must cut the ground under Putin’s feet rather than obeying him, as this is the only way to truly reduce threats to freedom,” he wrote.
Washington has announced new aid for Ukraine on just one other occasion this year, a $300 million package in March that was only made possible by using money that the Pentagon had saved on other purchases.
The State Department confirmed Wednesday that the United States had secretly sent long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine as part of the March assistance package, fulfilling a long-standing request from Kyiv.
“We did not announce this at the onset in order to maintain operational security for Ukraine at their request,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters, adding that the “missiles arrived in Ukraine this month.”
Some Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles can hit targets up to 300 kilometres away, and a Defense Department spokesperson confirmed that was the long-range variant supplied to Ukraine.
The White House said last year that the United States sent a shorter-range variant of ATACMS that can travel 165 kilometres.