U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (L) speaks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky during a meeting in Ramstein, Germany, on September 6. On Saturday, Austin unveiled a nearly $1 billion weapons package for Ukraine. File Photo by Ronald Wittek/EPA-EFE
Dec. 8 (UPI) — The United States has committed an additional $1 billion in lethal assistance for Ukraine as the Biden administration seeks to surge weapons to Kyiv ahead of an uncertain future for the embattled ally after the Trump administration takes office next month.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the package, valued at $988 million, Saturday during the Reagan National Defense Forum hosted in Simi Valley, Calif.
The package includes ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, which have proven effective in the war against Russia, as well as drones and equipment, components and spare parts to maintain, repair and overhaul artillery systems, tanks and armored vehicles.
The assistance comes from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which is a U.S. program to supply weapons to Ukraine via defense company contracts.
The package represents roughly half of the $2.21 billion remaining in the USAI fund.
Roughly $8 billion in Congressional-approved funds still remain available to the Biden administration, which has been the largest backer of Ukraine in its war against Russia.
The Biden administration is expect to keep surging weapons to Ukraine as the future of U.S. support for Kyiv is uncertain. The White House is to be handed over Jan. 20 to President-elect Donald Trump, who has criticized funding Ukraine and is widely expected to pursue a more nationalistic agenda than his predecessor.
He has also said he could end the nearly three-year-old war in 24 hours.
“We can continue to stand up to the Kremlin. Or we can let [Russian President Vladimir] Putin have his way — and condemn our children and grandchildren to live in a world of chaos and conflict,” Austin said Saturday.
“This administration has made its choice. And so has a bipartisan coalition in Congress. The next administration must make its own choice.”
Saturday’s announcement is the 22nd USAI package announced by the Niden administration.
Since the war began with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the United States has committed more than $62 billion to Kyiv.