Senior U.S. officials visiting Ukraine and Germany announced $675 million in new military assistance to Ukraine and $2 billion in additional funding for that country and other nations in the region.
The military aid will include rockets for multiple-launch rocket systems, four 105 mm howitzers with 36,000 rounds, high-speed missiles to target enemy radar, 5,000 antitank missiles, 1,000 antitank mines, 100 Humvees, 1.5 million rounds of ammunition for small arms, 50 armored medical-treatment vehicles, night-vision equipment, small arms and grenade launchers, a State Department spokesman said.
In Kyiv, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the additional $2 billion in foreign military financing to help that country and 18 others in the region bolster their security against threats emanating from Moscow.
“We know this is a pivotal moment, more than six months into Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, as your counteroffensive is now under way and proving effective,” Mr. Blinken told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
At Ramstein Air Base in Germany, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Ukraine is “integrating the capabilities that we all have provided to help themselves to fight and reclaim their sovereign territory.” Mr. Austin met with officials from Ukraine, members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and other countries.
The announcements on Thursday bring the total U.S. military assistance for Ukraine to more than $15 billion under the Biden administration, with most provided since Russia’s invasion in February.
Washington is aiming to lead other Western countries in providing weapons that will help Ukraine prevail in the long run, officials said. By contrast, Russia has been forced to seek military supplies from North Korea and Iran, in part due to Western sanctions, Mr. Blinken said.
U.S. officials are also seeking to rally Western support for Ukraine at a time when Russia is shutting off natural-gas flows to Europe and threatening to interrupt the restart of Ukrainian grain exports on the Black Sea.
“Every day, we see the resolve of the allies and partners worldwide who are helping Ukraine resist Russia’s illegal, imperial, and indefensible war of conquest,” Mr. Austin said. “And we must evolve as the fight evolves.”
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