The Biden administration announced a new aid package for Ukraine totaling about $1.7 billion. It consists mostly of missiles and ammunition for missile, artillery and anti-aircraft systems that the US has already provided to Ukraine, CNN reported.
The US is providing $1.5 billion for new weapons and equipment to Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). "It will include opportunities to increase Ukraine's air defenses, firepower and anti-tank weapons, as well as funding to sustain equipment for which the United States has previously committed," the Defense Department said in a press release.
The Department of Defense is also sending up to $200 million worth of weapons and equipment to Ukraine directly from the US Department of Defense stockpile through the presidential reduction authorization. It includes air defense interceptors; ammunition for missile systems and artillery; and anti-tank weapons.
The administration said this is their twentieth "USAI package and the sixty-second tranche of equipment to be provided from the Defense Department's stockpile to Ukraine beginning in August 2021," according to the release.
The USAI package includes missiles for Ukraine's National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), a key air defense platform.
It also includes munitions for the Ukrainian High Mobility Artillery Missile System (HIMARS), a weapons platform that Ukraine has recently used to effectively strike Russian territory.
The package also includes artillery ammunition - one of Ukraine's main demands. | BGNES