The head of the US Department of State’s Interagency Assistance Department, Daphne Rand, has confirmed that Washington intends to provide Ukraine with an additional $9.9bn in budget support.
“The U.S. has provided $13 billion in budget support to the government of Ukraine, and we are working with Congress to provide another $9.9 billion in the coming months,” Rand told reporters.
She added that Washington “remains committed to working with the government of Ukraine to maintain its operational capacity and provide additional budget support as needed.”
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the U.S. government is working to have Congress approve an additional $10 billion military aid package for Ukraine.
The newspaper noted that the next military aid package is expected to be announced next week, almost simultaneously with the announcement of additional sanctions against Russia.
At the same time, the newspaper wrote that a number of U.S. officials who visited Ukraine recently told Kiev that despite promises to support Ukraine “as long as necessary,” Washington expects to use the aid already provided more effectively.
Rand did not say what was planned to be included in the new aid package to Kiev. At the same time, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on the sidelines of a contact group meeting on Ukraine’s defense in Brussels that the West’s current urgent task is to provide Kiev with air defense equipment.
“We know that Russia has a significant number of aircraft and a lot of capacity,” he told reporters. – That’s why we stressed that we need to do everything in our power to provide Ukraine with as much air defense capability as possible.”
About 40 Ukrainian retailers from different segments from the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine and till the end of 2022 transferred humanitarian and military aid to the total amount of 2,7 billion UAH, follows from the research of Ukrainian Retailers Association.
According to it, for the needs of the army and territorial defense were transferred food products worth 516.8 million UAH and non-food products worth 710.7 million UAH.
The population was provided with food aid to the amount of more than 430 million UAH, non-food – 622.8 million UAH. In addition, retailers have collected more than 255.5 million UAH of financial aid for the purchase of transport, 130.4 million UAH of medicines were transferred.
Finland will supply Ukraine with the 11th package of military equipment worth EUR 28.8 million, according to the Telegram channel of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
In addition, the Finnish Defense Forces will continue to participate in training support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the UK until the end of 2023. “In August, Finland sent about 20 instructors to a UK-led training operation aimed at training the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The UK has asked for support from its partner countries to implement the training,” the report says.
According to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, the total cost of all military equipment supplied by Finland to Ukraine is already EUR 189.2 million.
A logistical operation to send military and military-technical aid to Ukraine began Friday, Dec. 23, according to the Bulgarian Defense Ministry’s press service.
“Starting today, a logistic operation will be carried out in which the aid approved by the National Assembly will be sent to Ukraine,” said Deputy Defense Minister Ekaterina Gramatikova.
In turn, the country’s defense chief Admiral Emil Eftimov said that the course of negotiations or the provision of military assistance must remain confidential.
“Learned conclusions about the course of hostilities in Ukraine – not only on the basis of the tactics and equipment used, but also the logistics system, the state and capabilities of the DIC in both our country and NATO and EU allies. On this basis, we proposed a certain set of weapons and equipment,” he said.
Bulgaria’s parliament on Friday approved a list of weapons that will be sent to Ukraine as aid for the first time since the full-scale Russian invasion, Reuters reported.
“The weapons list is classified, but government officials said Sofia will send mainly light weapons and ammunition,” the report said.
A total of 148 deputies from the 240-member parliament voted in favor of sending aid Friday, while the Socialists and the pro-Russian Revival Party voted against it.
Acting Defense Minister Dimitar Stoyanov said Bulgaria, a NATO member, could not afford to send its Russian-made surface-to-air missile systems or the MiG-19 and Su-25 fighters Kiev needs.
“My approach was conservative because I need to ensure Bulgaria’s defense capability. The aid is fully in line with Ukraine’s priorities, but we are not sending S-300 systems or MiG-29 or Su-25 aircraft,” Stoyanov told Nova TV in a commentary.
Bulgaria has reportedly not previously sent weapons to Ukraine, but its arms manufacturers have seen a sharp increase in exports, a November report from the Bulgarian Industrial Association showed. In August, the Ministry of Economy approved arms export deals worth more than 1 billion leva ($540.22 million), most of which were destined for Poland, one of the key hubs for sending weapons to Ukraine.
According to Reuters, Bulgaria was one of the few EU countries that did not send aid to Ukraine after the Russia-friendly Socialist Party, a coalition partner in the previous government, blocked a previous proposal in May.
The United States continues to help Ukraine and will announce another military aid package in the coming weeks, U.S. Presidential National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Sunday.
“We remain stable in providing security assistance. You know about the one aid package that we just announced, there will be another (aid package) in the next few weeks, about a similar time frame and the same amount that we’ve been sticking to over the last few weeks and months,” Sullivan told reporters aboard a flight from Vietnam to the G20 summit in Bali.
“We are also consulting with Congress about additional resources for next year,” the Biden adviser added.
Sullivan is accompanying President Joe Biden on visits to Cambodia and Indonesia, where he has attended U.S.-ASEAN and East Asian summits, and where he will attend the G20 summit in Bali.
Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he had authorized a $400 million new shipment of weapons to Ukraine at the president’s behest.
The Pentagon informed that the delivery would include Hawk air defense missiles, four Avenger surface-to-air missile systems equipped with Stinger missiles, additional ammunition for HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems, 21,000 155 mm artillery shells, 500 high-precision 155 mm artillery shells, cold weather gear and other military equipment.
A U.S. Department of Defense press release noted that the new U.S. aid package to Ukraine was the 25th since August 2021. In total, since the beginning of President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States has provided Kiev with military assistance worth over $19.3bn.
