A new military aid package was announced at a meeting between Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky and U.S. President Joe Biden at the G7, President Andrei Yermak, head of the office, wrote in his Telegram channel Sunday.
“There is a new military aid package for Ukraine. It includes: additional ammunition for HIMARS; artillery shells; TOW anti-tank guided missiles; Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems; bridge systems; armored medical vehicles; trucks and trailers to transport heavy equipment; thermal imaging systems; spare parts and other field equipment. A $375 million package. thanks to allies,” he wrote.
President of the United States Joe Biden has said he had informed President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky that the U.S. is providing another $1 billion in security assistance for Ukraine, the White House reported on Wednesday.
“I informed President Zelensky that the United States is providing another $1 billion in security assistance for Ukraine,” Biden said in the statement posted on the website of the White House.
Biden also said that the assistance includes “additional artillery and coastal defense weapons, as well as ammunition for the artillery and advanced rocket systems.”
The U.S. remains committed to supporting the Ukrainian people whose lives have been ripped apart by this war, Biden said.
“Today, I am also announcing an additional $225 million in humanitarian assistance to help people inside Ukraine, including by supplying safe drinking water, critical medical supplies and health care, food, shelter, and cash for families to purchase essential items,” the U.S. president said.
On Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said that he asked Congress to approve his request for additional financial assistance to Ukraine as soon as possible.
“I just signed a request to Congress for important security, economic, and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. (…) It is critical this funding gets approved and approved as quickly as possible,” Biden said, speaking at the White House.
He said he acknowledges that such assistance is “not cheap.”
Biden said the U.S. administration needs additional funds to transfer artillery, air defense systems, and armored vehicles to Ukraine.
“This assistance will give Ukraine additional artillery, armored vehicles, anti-tank and anti-air capabilities,” he said.
He said that a request to the U.S. Congress for additional funds for Ukraine should meet both the current defense needs of the Ukrainian military and longer-term security needs.
Biden said the United States and allies have already delivered over 50 million pieces of military equipment to Ukraine, including thousands of anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, helicopters, drones, grenade launchers and machine guns.
Additional funding to help Ukraine is needed, as the previously allocated funds are almost completely used.
Biden called on Congress to allocate $33 billion to help Ukraine in the defense and humanitarian spheres, as well as to strengthen the defense of European countries, the White House said. This funding is intended for the period until September 2022, the CNBC channel said.
The White House said in the statement that, among other things, some $20.4 billion is expected to be allocated both for military assistance to Ukraine and for “U.S. efforts to strengthen European security in cooperation with our NATO allies and other partners in the region.” This is about the supply of weapons to Ukraine and a number of European countries, artillery, armored vehicles, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. It is also planned to direct this assistance to strengthening the means of protection against cyberattacks, demining territories. At the same time, they plan to send $4 billion to the program of foreign military financing of the U.S. Department of State.
Of the funds requested by Biden, some $ 8.5 billion will be directed to support the Ukrainian economy. These funds are intended to finance the Ukrainian government, help Ukraine in the food, energy and medical fields.
The CNBC television channel, in turn, said, thus, in nine months, the total U.S. spending on Ukraine would exceed $36 billion.
In addition, according to the White House, some $3 billion will be allocated for humanitarian assistance around the world in the form of supplies of wheat and other goods. In addition, they plan to allocate $500 million as assistance to domestic production. This amount is expected to support U.S. production of food crops that are in short supply around the world due to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
In addition, Biden decided to ask Congress for approval of a package of laws that will help the administration use the confiscated assets of individuals associated with Russia to provide assistance to Ukraine. The White House said in the statement that the president “will send a proposal for a comprehensive legislative package that will enhance the United States Government’s authority to hold the Russian government and Russian oligarchs accountable for President Putin’s war against Ukraine.” Biden’s proposals, in particular, provide for the use of confiscated assets of persons subject to sanctions.
In parallel, similar measures are being considered in the U.S. Congress. Thus, on Thursday night, the House of Representatives approved a bill that gives the president the opportunity to use some of the assets frozen under sanctions against Russia to provide humanitarian and military assistance to Kyiv. ” The Asset Seizure for Ukraine Reconstruction Act takes an important step in rebuilding the country Russia has destroyed,” Congressman Tom Malinowski, co-author of the document, said on social media.
The New York Times said that 417 congressmen supported the bill, with eight opposed.
The United States is ready to accept 100,000 refugees from Ukraine, U.S. President Joe Biden said.
Many Ukrainian refugees want to stay in Europe, closer to home, but we also welcome 100,000 Ukrainians to the U.S. with a focus on family reunification, Biden said at a press conference in Brussels on Thursday.
The United States House of Representatives has voted to increase the amount of financial assistance to Ukraine. American parliamentarians also supported amendments to the sanctions against Nord Stream 2, the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States said on Facebook.
“According to the bill, the total amount of funds to be allocated for the implementation of assistance programs to Ukraine through the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development and related programs is at least $481.5 million, which is $28.5 million more than this year,” the report says.
Of this estimate, $125 million will be allocated as assistance to Ukraine for security-related purposes, under the article “International military financing,” which is $10 million more than in 2021.
To enter into force, the bill must be agreed and approved by the U.S. Senate and signed by U.S. President Joe Biden.
FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE, JOE BIDEN, NORD STREAM-2, UNITED STATES, UNITED STATES HOUSE
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and U.S. President Joe Biden discussed in detail the construction of the Nord Stream 2 project from Russia to Germany, Ukraine’s integration into NATO, the situation in Donbas and the implementation of reforms in Ukraine, adviser to the President’s Office head Mykhailo Podoliak has said.
“The conversation was very specific, substantive and covered key topics for our bilateral relations. The risks of the Nord Stream 2 construction for European security, the fastest and most effective Ukraine’s integration into NATO, the real situation in Donbas without any admixture of Russian propaganda, the obvious implementation of reforms in Ukraine and, in particular, the process of de-oligarchization,” Podoliak told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, “both the President of the United States and the President of Ukraine assess the existing risks for the European region security pretty much the same.”
Podoliak also said that “President Biden invited President Zelensky to visit Washington in July upon Biden’s return from a series of summits to be held in June.” “This is a G7 meeting, a NATO summit, a bilateral summit between the United States and Russia,” he said.
“After all these events, it will be quite logical to once again coordinate the policies of our states, and once again conduct and synchronize our partner positions,” the adviser to the President’s Office head said.
