US prepares $8 billion in arms aid

26/9/2024 6:16

        The United States plans
        to announce more than $8 billion worth of military assistance
        for Ukraine on Thursday during Ukrainian President Volodymyr
        Zelenskiy's visit to Washington, two U.S. officials said on
        Wednesday.
        
        President Joe Biden's administration has been engaged in
        urgent discussions with Congress to allow it to use up $5.6
        billion in military aid for Ukraine before Sept. 30 - the end of
        the federal fiscal year - when the authority was set to expire.
        
        On Thursday, U.S. officials said, the White House intends to
        notify Congress it will move forward with the announcement of a
        $5.6 billion drawdown from U.S. weapons stocks. The contents of
        that package are still in flux, the officials said.
        
        Reuters reported this month that the Biden administration
        was considering a backup plan under which it would announce
        plans for shipments for Ukraine, but with an extended delivery
        timeline for the weapons and equipment, allowing for a more
        gradual transfer of resources to Ukraine without missing the
        Sept. 30 deadline.
        
        A second announcement slated for Thursday will be for $2.4
        billion worth of aid under the Ukraine Security Assistance
        Initiative program, which allows the administration to buy
        weapons for Ukraine from companies rather than pull them from
        U.S. stocks.
        
        That aid will include munitions, weapons to combat drones
        and material to support munitions production in Ukraine, one of
        the U.S. officials said.
        
        In addition, the U.S. plans - later on Wednesday - to
        announce $375 million worth of Presidential Drawdown Authority
        for Ukraine that will include the first shipment of a
        precision-guided glide bomb with a range of up to 81 miles (130
        km) called the Joint Standoff Weapon, two U.S. officials said.
        The inclusion of that weapon was not expected to be publicly
        disclosed.
        
        That package, which Reuters first reported on last week, was
        also expected to include patrol boats, additional ammunition for
        high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), 155mm and 105mm
        artillery ammunition, spare parts and other weapons, U.S.
        officials said.
        
        The Joint Standoff Weapon would be dropped from fighter
        jets, and is capable of striking targets with high accuracy.
        Ukraine has been largely prohibited from using U.S.-supplied
        weapons in strikes into Russia.
        
        Presidential Drawdown Authority allows the president to draw
        from current weapons stocks to help allies in an emergency. In
        August, as Ukraine was pressing an incursion into Russia and
        losing territory in its east to Russian advances, Washington
        announced two packages, both for $125 million each.
        
        Congress has approved nearly $175 billion of aid and
        military assistance for Ukraine and allied nations in the 2-1/2
        years since Russia's full-scale invasion, and many lawmakers say
        they expect Washington will need to approve more money to help
        the government in Kyiv in the next several months.
        
        U.S. companies that might benefit from increased weapons
        shipments to Ukraine include arms makers like RTX,
        Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, and Northrop
        Grumman.