US Sending Additional $425 Million Military Aid Package to Ukraine

Military personnel stand in front of a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) during the military exercise Namejs 2022 in Skede, Latvia, on Sept. 26, 2022. (Gints Ivuskans/AFP via Getty Images)

The U.S. Defense Department announced on Friday a new $425 million military assistance package for Ukraine, which will include laser-guided munitions to shoot down Russia’s drones.

The new package includes $125 million in munitions that will be drawn from existing U.S. stockpiles, the department said in a press release on Nov. 3.

Ukraine will receive additional munitions for its air defense, ammunition for U.S.-provided rocket systems, artillery rounds, javelins, and anti-tank systems to help it fight against Russian forces on its soil.

The remaining $300 million will come from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows the Biden administration to procure weapons from industry. This fund will be used to provide Ukraine with laser-guided munitions to counter Russia’s drones.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Nov. 3 that funds under USAI are running low as Congress remains divided over the Biden administration’s $100 billion supplemental funding request.

“While we do have remaining PDA [Presidential Drawdown Authority] to continue to fulfill Ukraine’s immediate battlefield needs, we’re beginning to provide Ukraine with smaller PDA packages in order to stretch out our ability to support Ukraine for as long as possible,” she told reporters.

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The Pentagon also called on Congress to approve the supplementary funding in order to ensure Ukraine has what it needs to defend itself against Russia’s war.

This marks the 50th tranche of equipment to be provided from U.S. military inventories for Ukraine since August 2021, according to the Pentagon. It comes just a week after Washington announced a $150 million aid package on Oct. 26—which included weapons similar to those expected in the new package.

Pentagon press secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters on Oct. 26 that the United States will stand with Ukraine and “continue to have their backs” in the face of the Russian invasion.

Aside from Ukraine, the United States is also providing weapons to Israel in its freshly sparked conflict with Hamas terrorists.

Biden Says US Capable of Supporting Ukraine, Israel

President Joe Biden has previously dismissed concerns that the United States doesn’t have the resources to support both Ukraine and Israel while maintaining its own security needs.

President Joe Biden addresses the nation on the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the Oval Office of the White House on Oct. 19, 2023. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

“We’re the United States of America for God’s sake, the most powerful nation in the history—not in the world, in the history of the world,” he said in an Oct. 15 interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” news program.

“We can take care of both of these and still maintain our overall international defense,” President Biden added.

The Biden administration has already moved military assets closer to Israel and sent munitions and interceptors for its Iron Dome defense system following the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Oct. 7.

On the other hand, Ukraine has received military assistance totaling $44 billion from the United States since Russia launched its full-fledged invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

However, unlike in Ukraine, Israeli forces are being supported by a growing deployment of United States warships in the region in deterrence posturing directed at Iran and its proxies in the region.

The United States in July also decided to send controversial cluster bombs to Ukraine after months of requests from Kyiv for further assistance with its war effort against Russia. President Biden explained his decision to reporters at the time, saying, “We’ve run out of ammunition,” referring to medium-caliber 155 mm artillery ammunition.

Not just the United States, but Ukraine’s European allies have also expressed that they are running low on 155 mm munitions, having been depleting their stockpiles in support of Ukraine’s defense.

Stephen Katte contributed to this report.