The Netherlands intends to allocate EUR 122 million in military aid to Ukraine, which will be spent on ammunition, weapons and cybersecurity, the press service of the country’s government reported.
In particular, EUR 87 million will be allocated to Ukraine for the purchase of artillery shells. The Netherlands will also transfer EUR 25 million to the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU) for the purchase of weapons.
In addition, the Dutch government will allocate another EUR 10 million to improve Ukraine’s cybersecurity.
“The donations are the result of consultations of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG), which includes 50 partner countries. They help Ukraine purchase equipment and resources to defend itself against Russia,” the government said in a statement.
According to Dutch Defense Minister Keesa Ollongren, “it is important to support Ukraine in the long term.”
“Now it is important to show that we are helping Ukraine. They are fighting for their country and for the values we share: self-determination, freedom, equality, human rights,” she said.
The United States has provided Ukraine with a $250 million military aid package, the Pentagon website reports.
“This announcement marks the fifty-fourth tranche of assistance that the Biden administration will provide to Ukraine from the Department of Defense’s stockpile beginning in August 2021,” the statement said.
The new aid package includes additional air defense equipment, artillery ammunition, anti-tank weapons, and other equipment to help Ukraine counter Russian aggression.
In particular, the package includes
– additional ammunition for NASAMS air defense systems;
– Stinger anti-aircraft missiles;
– air defense system components;
– additional ammunition for HIMARS;
– artillery shells of 155 mm and 105 mm caliber;
– optically tracked and wire guided tube-launched missiles (TOW);
– Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems;
– more than 15 million rounds of ammunition for small arms;
– explosive ammunition for clearing obstacles;
– spare parts, medical equipment, maintenance and other support equipment.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that he had approved another $200 million military aid package for Ukraine.
“I just signed a document allocating $200 million for Ukraine’s defense,” Biden said at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
He added that this aid package would be promptly sent to Kyiv.
The US president did not specify what exactly would be included in this tranche of aid.
Bulgaria’s parliament has overridden the presidential veto on an agreement to supply Ukraine with used armored personnel carriers (APCs), ratified earlier by parliament, The Sofia Globe reports.
“The Bulgarian National Assembly voted on December 8 to override President Rumen Radev’s veto of the agreement between the Bulgarian Ministry of Interior and the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense on Bulgaria’s supply of used APCs to Ukraine, ratified by parliament last month,” the newspaper said.
The motion to override the veto was passed with 161 votes in favor and 55 against.
The agreement stipulates that Bulgaria will supply APCs and existing weapons, as well as spare parts. The vehicles were purchased in the 1980s and have been mothballed for several decades.
In addition, on December 8, the Bulgarian National Assembly voted overwhelmingly (145 in favor, 55 against) to provide additional military assistance to Ukraine, to allow the use of Bulgarian airspace for training Ukrainian F-16 pilots, and to allow a limited number of Ukrainian military personnel to transit or stay in Bulgaria for training.
Additional military assistance would include Bulgaria providing Ukraine with malfunctioning, obsolete, and surplus air defense missiles. The military assistance also includes allowing Ukrainian infantry or mechanized companies of up to 160 personnel per year to transit or stay in Bulgaria for training.
On Friday, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö decided to send another military equipment to help Ukraine on the proposal of the government.
According to the Finnish government’s website, this will be the 20th delivery of military equipment to Ukraine. The replacement of the defense equipment contained in this package will cost Finland approximately EUR100 million.
“The total compensation value of the 20 packages of Finnish defense equipment now amounts to EUR 1.5 billion,” said Finnish Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen.
For operational reasons, and to ensure that the aid reaches its destination safely, no further information will be disclosed about the contents of the package, the method of delivery or the schedule.
The government noted that the decision to provide additional assistance took into account both the needs of Ukraine and the resources of the Finnish Defense Forces.
“The prospects for security in Europe and Finland in the current decade are at stake in Ukraine’s defense struggle. Together with our allies, we remain unwavering in our commitment to support Ukrainians,” Mr. Kaikkonen emphasized.
The Australian government has allocated $AU 20 million for a military aid package for Ukraine, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said during his visit to Washington, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Australia Vasyl Miroshnychenko said on his Facebook page on Wednesday.
“20 million Australian dollars (USD 12.7 million – IF-U) will be used to purchase new products from the Australian military-industrial complex, including anti-submarine weapons (Droneshield), mine-clearing equipment (Minelab), mobile X-ray machines (Micro-X) and industrial 3D printers (SPEE3D),” he wrote.
The ambassador also announced that the Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail reconnaissance aircraft has arrived at the Ramstein base and will begin its work in the airspace of Eastern Europe.
Vasyl Miroshnychenko thanked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Defense Minister Richard Marles and Minister of Defense Pat Conroy for their support of Ukraine.
