The United States will provide Ukraine with new security assistance worth $128 million, as well as $197 million in weapons and equipment as part of a previously authorized reduction, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said.
The package contains additional air defense munitions “to help strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses against Russian air attacks now and in the coming winter, when Russia is likely to resume its attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure,” Blinken said on Thursday, CNN reports.
“It also contains artillery munitions and anti-tank weapons, as well as cluster munitions that will further enhance Ukraine’s ability to continue its counteroffensive against Russian forces,” he added.
This statement was made during a meeting between President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Joe Biden in Washington, DC.
A $1.25 billion grant from the United States was transferred to Ukraine’s state budget on Thursday through the World Bank’s Multi-Donor Trust Fund, the Ministry of Finance reported.
It clarified that the funds are part of the fifth additional financing under the World Bank’s Public Expenditure Support for Enhanced Accountability and Sustainable Governance in Ukraine (PEACE in Ukraine) project.
Its goal is to partially compensate for state budget expenditures, including social and humanitarian expenditures not related to security and defense.
In 2023, Ukraine received $9.7 billion in direct budget support from the United States in the form of grants. The funding is used to reimburse state budget expenditures: pension payments, payments to the State Emergency Service, salaries for healthcare workers providing services under the Medical Guarantee Program, civil servants and teachers.
“Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the state budget of Ukraine has already received $21.7 billion from the United States. Financial assistance from the United States is provided on a non-refundable basis, which allows us not to increase the debt burden on the state budget. I am grateful to the US government for its solidarity and large-scale support,” Minister of Finance of Ukraine Sergii Marchenko said in a press release.
As reported, the government of Ukraine expects to receive another $3.3 billion from the United States by the end of this year, and $12-14 billion next year, but for this to happen, U.S. lawmakers must approve the relevant federal budgets. Discussions on this issue are still ongoing.
The Ministry of Finance added that together with Deloitte Consulting, which is implementing the USAID SOERA project, it is monitoring the use of direct budget support from the US government, and with the auditing company PriceWaterhouseCoopers Ukraine, it is checking the agreed procedures to determine the allowable public expenditures made by Ukraine in 2022.
In addition, to increase the transparency and accountability of the use of external financing, the Ministry of Finance publishes detailed information on the state budget expenditures of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, which were compensated by foreign partners, in particular the United States, under the World Bank’s PEACE in Ukraine project.
The United States has approved a new $600 million package of arms and ammunition under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), the US Department of Defense website reports.
“This package includes equipment to strengthen Ukraine’s air defense, artillery ammunition, and other capabilities,” the release says.
The new $600 million defense assistance package includes
– equipment to support and integrate Ukraine’s air defense systems;
– additional ammunition for the Highly Mobile Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
– 105-mm artillery rounds;
– electronic warfare and electronic countermeasures;
– destructive ammunition for clearing obstacles;
– equipment for demining;
– support and equipment for training, maintenance and sustainment.
“The United States will continue to work with its allies and partners to provide Ukraine with the capabilities to meet its immediate combat needs and long-term security assistance requirements,” the Pentagon emphasized.
The U.S. presidential administration will send armor-piercing shells containing depleted uranium to Ukraine for the first time, they are part of a new military aid package for Ukraine, Reuters reported on Friday.
“The projectiles, which could help destroy Russian tanks, are part of a new military aid package for Ukraine to be unveiled next week. The munitions could be fired from U.S. Abrams tanks, which a source familiar with the situation said are due to be delivered to Ukraine in the coming weeks. One official said the future aid package would range from $240 million to $375 million, depending on what is included,” the report said.
Depleted uranium, is used in munitions because its extreme density gives projectiles the ability to easily penetrate armor and self-ignite in a scalding cloud of dust and metal. Although depleted uranium is radioactive, it is much less so than natural uranium, and also its particles can persist for a considerable amount of time.
Earlier it was reported that the British authorities in April transferred to Ukraine several thousand shells for Challenger 2 tanks, some of which contained depleted uranium.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us-send-its-first-depleted-uranium-rounds-ukraine-sources-2023-09-01/
Velta group of companies with titanium ore mining assets in Novomyrhorod (Kirovograd region) has signed an agreement with international consulting company Hatch to design a titanium powder plant in the United States.
According to a press release on Tuesday, the agreement was signed between Velta Holding US Inc and Hatch.
It is noted that the new plant will be one of the first in the U.S. to operate based on Ukrainian low carbon footprint technology developed at Velta’s research center.
“This partnership agreement brings the Velta team closer to presenting the solution of Ukrainian scientists to the US titanium market, which is dangerously dependent on external supply chains,” the press service quotes Velta CEO Andriy Brodsky as saying.
At the same time, he expressed confidence that thanks to Hatch’s design expertise, the plant will be able to quickly and efficiently meet the demand for titanium for the countries that are Ukraine’s allies in the war.
The capacity of the first plant is designed for 1,000 tons per year of titanium powder with the potential to scale up in the future.
The company also emphasizes its intentions to build a similar plant in Ukraine.
Hatch is a leading consulting company for project design and implementation. The company’s professional experience includes projects in more than 150 countries in the metals, energy and infrastructure sectors, including four major TiO2 projects in Canada, South Africa and Senegal. The company also works closely with the communities where it operates its projects to avoid negative environmental impacts and promote economic development.
Velta Holding US, Inc. owns Velta LLC, a Ukrainian titanium feedstock producer that has built a titanium mining complex in Ukraine.
“Velta launched its R&D center in 2017 to develop a new method of titanium production. To date, the technology has already received two patents in the US.
PKF Velta LLC was registered in April 2000. The main activity is mining and production of ilmenite concentrate.
LLC VELTA Holding owns 100% of LLC PKF VELTA. The ultimate beneficiaries are three individuals: Andrey Brodsky (60%), Vadim Moskalenko (20%) and Vitaly Malakhov (20%).
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced an 18-month extension of Temporary Protected Status for citizens of Ukraine until April 19, 2025, due to Russia’s ongoing full-scale invasion.
“Today, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced an 18-month extension of Ukraine’s Temporary Protected Status (TPS), from October 20, 2023, to April 19, 2025, due to the ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Ukraine that prevent safe return,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on its website Friday.
The program will also be expanded to allow Ukrainians who were living in the U.S. as of Aug. 16, 2023, to apply for temporary protection.
In addition, students from Ukraine who study in the U.S. and are in the country on an F-1 visa will be able to apply for work authorization and workload reduction without losing their visa for the duration of temporary protection.
Reportedly, approximately 26,000 Ukrainians now enjoy temporary protection in the U.S., and another 166,700 may be eligible. “Current beneficiaries who wish to extend their temporary protected status must re-register in a timely manner during the 60-day re-registration period from August 21, 2023 to October 20, 2023,” the report said.
“Russia’s ongoing military incursion into Ukraine and the resulting humanitarian crisis require the United States to continue to provide security and protection to Ukrainians who may not be able to return to their country,” said U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, who is quoted in the report.
