The meaning of US New Year’s aid to Ukraine in the amount of $250 million is explained

The Pentagon called aid to Kyiv a “smart investment”

The United States will provide Ukraine with weapons and equipment worth up to $250 million. The new aid package for Kyiv, announced by Washington on Wednesday, includes air defense ammunition and artillery ammunition.

The United States is providing up to $250 million in weapons and equipment to help Ukraine, including air defense munitions and artillery ammunition, Washington announced.

The weapons package includes Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, additional Himars ammunition, Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems, as well as artillery and small arms ammunition. This is the 54th delivery of military equipment by the Biden administration to Ukraine since August 2021, The Guardian notes.

The US Department of Defense said in a statement: “These capabilities will support Ukraine’s most pressing needs to enable its forces to defend their sovereignty and independence. U.S. leadership is essential to sustaining the coalition efforts of the approximately 50 allies and partners currently supporting Ukraine. Security assistance to Ukraine is a smart investment in our national security.”

The latest aid was provided using the Presidential Stockpile Drawdown Order (PDA), a US foreign policy tool that allows Defense Department stockpiles to be quickly delivered to foreign countries in crisis, The Guardian explains. In another recent case, the PDA tool was used in December 2022 to help Taiwan with a $345 million arms package to defend it from growing military pressure from China, which denies the island’s sovereignty and claims it is its own territory.

News of the increase in U.S. military aid to Ukraine comes after Joe Biden announced another $200 million military aid package earlier in December amid concerns that the Ukraine conflict had reached a stalemate and amid growing Republican opposition to resuming larger aid to Ukraine. amounting to 61 billion dollars.

Critics of continued financial support for Ukraine have become louder on Capitol Hill in recent months, including senior Republicans who are pushing for White House concessions on American border security as a condition of the deal.

The latest aid was provided using the president’s force reduction powers, which allow Pentagon supplies to be quickly delivered to foreign countries, The Guardian notes.

In recent months, criticism of continued US financial support for Ukraine has become increasingly vocal on Capitol Hill. These include senior Republicans – notably far-right Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene – who have pushed for White House concessions on border security as a condition of the deal.

A September CBS News/YouGov poll found that only 39% of Republicans believe the U.S. should send weapons to Ukraine, down 10 points from February.

With continued arms supplies looking uncertain, Ukraine’s minister of strategic industries said on Wednesday that Kyiv is working to increase its own weapons production in 2024.

Kiev Minister Alexander Kamyshin said at a briefing that Ukraine produces six Bogdan self-propelled artillery units per month. The Bogdan is the only Ukrainian-made self-propelled gun that uses 155mm NATO-standard shells, making it a strategically important weapon for Kyiv.

Kamyshin also said that next year the country plans to produce up to 1,000 long-range attack drones, which have a range of about 1,000 km, 10,000 medium-range attack drones and 1,000 long-range attack drones.