The United States will provide Ukraine with the 73rd package of military aid, under which Kyiv will receive weapons from Pentagon warehouses worth $500 million, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
According to a statement on the website of the US Department of Defense, the new package will include ammunition for HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, ammunition to repel drone attacks, 105 and 155 mm artillery ammunition, high-speed anti-radar missiles, mine-resistant vehicles, Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems, grenades and training equipment. In addition, demolition equipment and biological, chemical, radiological and nuclear protection equipment will be provided.
This is already the third package of military aid for Kyiv since the beginning of December. The previous two were for $725 and $988 million. They also included ammunition for HIMARS, drones, artillery ammunition and other weapons. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan noted that the current administration will do everything in its power to provide Ukraine with resources to strengthen its position on the battlefield before it leaves.
At the same time, as the Wall Street Journal noted, the Biden administration will not have time to spend its remaining $6.5 billion on aid to Ukraine before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, which is scheduled for January 20, 2025. The publication’s source in the Pentagon said that the department plans to send Kyiv weapons worth $500-750 million per month until Trump comes to power. Before this, aid had not been allocated at such a pace, but such a volume is the maximum for the United States, since the country is faced with the task of maintaining its own combat capability.
Trump has repeatedly stated his intention to end the war in Ukraine and criticized the high costs of aid to Kyiv. In one of his last interviews, he admitted that under his rule, military support for Ukraine would be reduced. According to him, the United States invested $350 billion in aid to Kyiv, and Europe only $100. He stressed that the amounts should be equal.
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin reported in early December that the total volume of American military aid to Ukraine since 2022 has exceeded $62 billion. Other allies of Kyiv have provided $57 billion over the same period, Austin added.