Biden steps up Ukraine military aid surge with new $725M package
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President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Washington, D.C, in July. Photo: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The Biden administration announced a new $725 million security assistance package for Ukraine on Monday that includes a provision for more land mines and precision rocket launchers.
Why it matters: President Biden has committed to a "surge" in aid for Kyiv before he leaves office, with President-elect Trump having publicly criticized military aid to Ukraine.
- Retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, Trump's pick for special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, has pushed a proposal to end the war between the two nations that would include requiring Kyiv to relinquish its goal of regaining seized territory.
Driving the news: National security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden had directed the Defense Department to rapidly deliver to Ukraine materiel that includes "hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of additional rockets, and other critical capabilities" between now and mid-January.
- "To help Ukraine stabilize its lines in the east, the President has authorized the provision of non-persistent anti-personnel land mines to Ukraine as a limited exception to the Administration's continuing landmine policy," per Sullivan's statement.
- "In response to the entry of North Korean soldiers into this war, the President has decided to adjust permissions on Ukraine's use of U.S.-provided long-range missiles. And to disrupt Russia's war machine, the United States has implemented major sanctions against Russia's financial sector, with more sanctions to follow."
State of play: Russian leader Vladimir Putin's forces last month attacked Ukraine using an "experimental" intermediate-range ballistic missile.
- Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in November that Russian forces had been unsuccessful in the way they were fighting, so they changed their tactics.
- "They lead with dismounted forces, who are able to close and do things to kind of pave the way for mechanized forces," he said.
- "So that's what the Ukrainians are seeing right now. And they have a need for things that can help slow down that effort, on the part of the Russians. They're fabricating their own antipersonnel land mines right now."
Zoom in: The package that's provided under the Presidential Drawdown Authority from Department of Defense stocks includes ammunition for HIMARS precision rocket launchers (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems), per a statement from Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
- It also covers stinger missiles, counter-drone systems and anti-armor weapons, among other weaponry, according to Blinken.
What they're saying: Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a briefing Monday, "The bottom line is at the president's direction, we will spend every dollar that Congress has appropriated for Ukraine and to replenish our stockpiles."
- Ryder added: "We understand the urgent situation in Ukraine and the president's direction and will continue to do everything we can to ensure that Ukraine is getting the aid that it needs."
Go deeper: Biden lets Ukraine use U.S.-supplied long-range missiles in Russia's Kursk region
