The Biden administration authorized an additional $725 million dollars in security aid for Ukraine Friday, as the country recovers from Russia’s recent barrage of missile attacks on civilian targets.
The Presidential Drawdown includes “munitions, arms and equipment from US Department of Defense inventories,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Friday.
The additional assistance brings the total US military aid to Ukraine since January 2021 to more than $18 billion, Blinken said.
“The capabilities we are delivering are carefully calibrated to make the most difference on the battlefield for Ukraine.”.
The announcement for additional aid follows a brutal week of deadly Russian strikes in Ukraine, including in the Kyiv region, on civilian targets.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said on Thursday following the NATO defense ministerial meeting, other countries have committed to aiding Ukraine as well.
Spain will provide additional air defense “Hawk systems” to Ukraine, Austin said, and, according to the Defense Department’s release, Germany recently delivered its first of four IRIS-T air defense systems to Ukraine. »