US Declares $270 Mn More in Military Aid to Ukraine, Mulls Sending Fighter Jets

The US has now committed approximately $8.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine under President Joe Biden.

File image of US President Joe Biden.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

The United States on Friday, 22 July, announced an additional $270 million in security assistance to Ukraine, a fresh package that will include additional medium range rocket systems and tactical drones.

The US has now committed approximately $8.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the President Joe Biden-led administration.

"Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced $270 million in additional security assistance for Ukraine. This includes President Biden’s announcement of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $175 million, as well as $95 million in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds," Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Todd Breasseale said.

The Presidential Drawdown is the sixteenth such drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories for Ukraine that US government has authorised since August 2021.

As per a press release by the US Department of Defence, capabilities in this package include additional quantities of weapons systems and equipment that Ukrainians have been using so effectively on the battlefield to defend their country, including:

• Four additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and additional ammunition for HIMARS

• Four Command Post Vehicles

• 36,000 rounds of 105mm ammunition

• Additional anti-armour weapons, spare parts, and other equipment

Further, the United States is exploring whether it can send US-made fighter jets to Ukraine, a White House spokesperson told reporters on Friday.

While the government was making preliminary explorations into the feasibility of potentially providing the jets to Ukraine, the move is not something that would be done immediately, White House spokesperson John Kirby said.