US ramps up aid for Ukraine, region
Over $2.8B package includes long-term military financing
KYIV, Ukraine — Underscoring determined U.S. support, Secretary of State Antony Blinken paid an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Thursday and the Biden administration ramped up military aid by more than $2.8 billion to Ukraine and other European countries threatened by Russia.
The new assistance came as the U.S. sought to boost momentum in Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russia — and amid fears that public support is waning as the war drags on.
President Joe Biden, Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin all participated in meetings aimed at showing U.S. resolve to stand behind Ukraine.
In Kyiv, Blinken said the administration would provide $2.2 billion in longterm military financing to Ukraine and 18 of its neighbors “potentially at risk of future Russian aggression.”
That’s on top of a $675 million package of heavy weaponry, ammunition and armored vehicles for Ukraine alone, announced by Austin and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, earlier Thursday.
“I thought it was particularly meaningful (to visit) at this time as Ukraine is starting this counteroffensive in the south, also in the east,” Blinken told reporters in Kyiv before boarding a train for Poland after meeting Ukrainian President
Volodomyr Zelenskyy.
The new funding and weapons are designed to provide enduring training and support for what Milley called a “very deliberate” counteroffensive that Ukrainian troops have launched.
Meeting virtually, Biden and the leaders of major U.S. allies all emphasized their countries’ strong support “for Ukraine as it defends itself from Russian aggression,” according to a White House readout.
“Russia’s weaponization of energy” and what to do about it — a major concern for this winter in Europe
— was also discussed, said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. Those on the call included the leaders of Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Poland, Romania, NATO, Canada and Japan and representatives from France and the European Union.
Austin and Milley announced the package of heavy weaponry, ammunition and armored vehicles for Ukraine alone at a conference in Ramstein, Germany.
“We are seeing real and measurable gains from Ukraine in the use of these systems,” said Milley. He
said Russia is suffering significant equipment and troop losses. But, he added, “The war is not over. Russia is a big country. They have very serious ambitions with respect to Ukraine. So sustainment of Ukraine to continue their fight for their survival will be necessary.”
The $2.2 billion in so-called Foreign Military Financing has already been appropriated by Congress, but lawmakers, some of whom have expressed concerns about the increasing amount of money going to Ukraine, must still approve the actual allotments. Just two weeks ago, the administration had announced a $3 billion package of support for Ukraine.
About $1 billion of the total will go to Ukraine and the rest will be divided among Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, the State Department said.
Asked about continued congressional support for the massive aid packages, Austin said the administration will provide its rationale to lawmakers, and “I fully expect that it will continue to receive broad bipartisan support because our leaders recognize how important this is.”
Foreign Military Financing allows recipients to purchase U.S.-made equipment, often depending on their specific needs.
The package for Ukraine includes howitzers, artillery munitions, Humvees, armored ambulances, antitank systems and more to assist the country with its shorter-term needs as it presses its counteroffensive.
Thursday’s contributions bring total U.S. aid to Ukraine to $15.2 billion since Biden took office.
Meanwhile, shelling continued near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, with the warring sides again trading blame amid dire warnings from the U.N. atomic watchdog, which has urged the creation of a safe zone to prevent a catastrophe.
Petro Kotin, the head of Ukraine’s atomic energy operator Enerhoatom, accused Russia on Thursday of trying to “steal” Europe’s largest nuclear plant by cutting it off from Ukraine’s electricity grid.
The Zaporizhzhia plant has been without an outside source of electricity since Monday and receives power for its own safety systems from the only one of its six reactors that remains operational, Kotin said.
“We are trying to keep this unit running as much as possible, but eventually it will have to be shut down and then the station will switch to diesel generators,” he said, adding that such generators are “the station’s last defense before a radiation accident.”