US announces Ukraine weapons package worth $725 million By Reuters

By Patricia Zengerle

(Reuters) – The United States will provide Ukraine with a $725 million weapons equipment, Secretary of Insist Antony Blinken acknowledged on Monday, as President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration seeks to bolster the authorities in Kyiv in its battle with Russian invaders sooner than leaving place of job in January.

The abet will consist of Stinger missiles, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), drones and land mines, among diversified items, Blinken acknowledged in a press liberate.

Reuters had reported closing week that the Biden administration planned to supply the tools, noteworthy of it anti-tank weapons to ward off Russia’s attacking troops.

“The United States and additional than 50 nations stand united to manufacture sure Ukraine has the capabilities it desires to defend itself against Russian aggression,” Blinken’s commentary acknowledged.

The announcement marks a steep uptick in dimension from Biden’s most well-liked verbalize of so-referred to as Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which permits the U.S. to device from present weapons shares to abet allies in an emergency.

Fresh PDA bulletins have every now and then ranged from $125 million to $250 million. Biden has an estimated $4 billion to $5 billion in PDA already authorized by Congress that he is anticipated to make verbalize of for Ukraine sooner than Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes place of job on Jan. 20.

The tranche of weapons represents the first time in decades that the US has exported land mines, the usage of which is controversial thanks to the capacity harm to civilians.

Despite the truth that extra than 160 countries have signed a treaty banning their verbalize, Kyiv has been inquiring for them since Russia launched its rotund-scale invasion in early 2022, and Russian forces have historical them on the front traces.

The land mines that will be sent to Ukraine are “non-persistent,” with a energy machine that lasts for honest a short time, leaving the devices non-lethal. This vogue that – unlike older landmines – they’d no longer dwell within the bottom, threatening civilians indefinitely.