President Joe Biden announced an additional $2.5 billion in security assistance for Ukraine as the conflict continues ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking office.
The package includes an additional $1.25 billion drawdown package for the Ukrainian military and offers $1.22 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funding.
The newest aid package will use all remaining congressionally approved Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds before the Biden Administration leaves next month, supplying immediate and long-term assistance.
“I’ve directed my Administration to continue surging as much assistance to Ukraine as quickly as possible,” said Biden. “including drawing down older U.S. equipment for Ukraine, rapidly delivering it to the battlefield, and then revitalizing the U.S. defense industrial base to modernize and replenish our stockpiles with new weapons.
The release said that the Department of Defense is currently delivering “hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets, and hundreds of armored vehicles, which will strengthen Ukraine’s hand as it heads into the winter.”
Since the war began, Congress has appropriated over $175 billion through the five Ukraine supplemental appropriation acts enacted FY 2022 through FY 2024, according to the Oversight of the U.S. Ukraine Response.
The Biden administration is expediting these funds before the incoming transition to Trump’s administration, signaling a potential shift in U.S. foreign policy regarding the conflict.
President Vladimir Putin has said he is open to discussing the situation with Ukraine with the incoming administration. However, Putin maintains firm in his conditions, which include the integration of occupied regions into Russia and Ukraine’s abandonment of NATO aspirations.
In an interview with Time Magazine, Trump said that the number of those dying on both sides is staggering and stated that he would not release his proposal to end the conflict because it would become “a worthless plan.”
Trump reiterated that “Putin would have never invaded Ukraine if I were president for numerous reasons.”
In an interview with Russian news agency TASS, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, “I would like to point out that what we need is reliable and legally binding agreements that would eliminate the root causes of the conflict and seal a mechanism precluding the possibility of their violation.”
Lavrov said that, as for the future of Russian-US relations, they are ready to renew conversations that he says Washington terminated.
The international community is closely watching the incoming administration, how it will navigate the complex dynamics of the Ukraine-Russian conflict, and its potential implications.
