Recently, President Joe Biden made the significant decision to provide Ukraine with $8 billion worth of American weaponry, including advanced long-range munitions—a move he had earlier vowed not to make. During his visit to the United States, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky toured a munitions plant together with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, an event many interpreted as indirectly promoting Kamala Harris’s presidential bid.
The official communication from the Biden-Harris administration revealed that they have “directed the Department of Defense to allocate all of its remaining security assistance funding that has been appropriated for Ukraine by the end of” their current term.
Further elaborating, the communication stated, “the Department of Defense will allocate the remaining Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds by the end of this year.” Moreover, the Biden-Harris White House “authorized $5.5 billion in Presidential Drawdown Authority to ensure this authority does not expire,” enabling full utilization of the funds Congress approved for the support and replenishment of U.S. military stocks for Ukraine.
In addition, “The Department of Defense is announcing $2.4 billion in security assistance through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which will provide Ukraine with additional air defense, Unmanned Aerial Systems, and air-to-ground munitions, as well as strengthen Ukraine’s defense industrial base and support its maintenance and sustainment requirements,” according to the statement.
The administration has also made a commitment “to enhance Ukraine’s long-range strike capabilities,” by deciding “to provide Ukraine with the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) long-range munition.”
Moreover, to “further strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses,” the White House has instructed the Department of Defense “to refurbish and provide Ukraine with an additional Patriot air defense battery and to provide Ukraine with additional Patriot missiles.”
Biden articulated, “This builds on my decision earlier this year to divert U.S. air defense exports to Ukraine, which will provide Ukraine with hundreds of additional Patriot and AMRAAM missiles over the next year and will help Ukraine defend its cities and its people.” He also mentioned that he “directed the Department of Defense to expand training for Ukrainian F-16 pilots, including by supporting the training of an additional 18 pilots next year.”
In a bid “to counter Russian sanctions evasion and money laundering,” the Biden-Harris team noted, “the Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury, and the U.S. Secret Service have taken action today to disrupt a global cryptocurrency network, in coordination with international partners. The United States will continue to raise the costs on Russia for its war in Ukraine and to deprive the Russian defense industrial base of resources.”
A “leader-level meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany next month to coordinate the efforts of the more than 50 countries supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression,” has also been scheduled.
Meetings between the leaders are on the agenda, with Biden set to meet Zelensky at the White House on Thursday. Following this, Harris is slated to share remarks alongside Zelensky and meet with him subsequently.
