“The first US Abrams tanks will be delivered to Ukraine next week,” Biden said as he stood alongside Zelensky, who is making his second visit to the US since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Biden also said he had “approved the next installment of security assistance to Ukraine,” which the Pentagon later estimated at $325 million.
This assistance includes anti-aircraft missiles, ammunition for the HIMARS high-mobility artillery missile systems, anti-tank weapons and artillery shells.
This aid package, however, does not include the long-range ATACMS missiles that Kyiv had repeatedly requested.
The aid package includes 155 mm cluster munitions, which Washington first agreed to supply to Ukraine in July despite concerns about the long-term risk the munitions pose to civilians.
The United States said it had received assurances from Ukraine that the risks posed to civilians by these weapons would be minimized, including by not using cluster munitions in populated areas.
Washington had promised Ukraine 31 Abrams tanks earlier this year. In early September, it also decided to supply Ukraine with armor-piercing shells with depleted uranium that can penetrate the armor of Russian tanks. These projectiles can be used when firing from the guns of Abrams tanks.
2023-09-22 06:18:27
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