WASHINGTON – The United States will announce close to US$3 billion (RM13 billion) in fresh military assistance for Ukraine as the country marks its Independence Day, a US official said yesterday, in the largest single security package yet in the six-month-old war.
The White House is expected to officially announce the aid, which can be used for arms acquisition, training and other operations today when Kyiv observes both the anniversary of its independence from Russia and the half-year mark of the invasion launched in February by Moscow.
The money will come under the Pentagon’s Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which can be used for immediate war costs, including acquisitions of supplies and weaponry.
It is separate from the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), under which President Joe Biden has been able to order immediate transfers of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine’s forces from existing US military stockpiles.
On Friday the Pentagon announced the latest package under the PDA, US$775 million worth of various missiles, artillery and anti-armor weapons and ammunition, as well as a fleet of armed mine-removal vehicles. – AFP, August 24, 2022
