US Announces Six Billion Dollars in Security Assistance Initiative for Ukraine, Including Patriot Missiles and More Weapons

“I am pleased to announce an additional six billion dollars today as part of the Security Assistance Initiative in Ukraine,” Austin told reporters, noting that it would allow Kyiv to acquire new capabilities from US industry.

The US will supply Ukraine with additional Patriot missiles for its air defense systems, Austin said.

The new package also includes more weapons for NASAMS medium-range air defense systems and additional equipment to add Western air defense launchers, missiles and radars to Ukraine’s existing arsenal, and much of it is still Soviet-era weapons.

At a press conference at the Pentagon, Austin said the United States was continuing to work with allies to provide additional Patriot systems to Ukraine, but had not stopped committing to more of the U.S. version. put in.

“They need more than Patriot, they need other types of systems and receivers,” Austin said. “We would all be cautioned not to make the Patriot a miracle stick.”

US officials said the aid package would be funded by Ukraine’s Security Assistance Initiative, which pays for long-term contracts with the defense industry and means the delivery of weapons could take months or years.

The new package, the largest US aid shipment to date, also includes Highly Mobile Artillery Missile Systems, or HIMARS, as well as Switchblade and Puma drones, anti-drone systems and artillery.

CONTEXT:

US House of Representatives on Saturday, April 20, vote for the bill, which provides for long-delayed aid to Ukraine. After approval by the House of Representatives, the bill was approved by the Senate and signed President Joe Biden.

The support in the lower house of Congress has cleared the biggest obstacle to Biden’s request for financial aid to Ukraine, which the president first floated in October when the stockpile of weapons of the h -Ukraine running out.

The United States has long supported Ukraine in its war against Russia, but there are more critical members of the House Republican group who oppose the amount of aid given to Ukraine. They are the ones who had delayed Washington’s support for Kyiv for months.

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