April 26, 2024 (EIRNS)—Today, the Biden Administration announced its largest military aid package for Ukraine so far, valued at $6 billion. “This package, provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) using funding appropriated by the national security supplemental which the President just signed into law, includes equipment to augment Ukraine’s air defenses, fires, and artillery, and to sustain capabilities previously committed by the United States,” reported a statement issued by the Pentagon in the context of today’s meeting of the Ukraine Defense Support Group, chaired by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
The USAI differs from Presidential Drawdown Authority, which provides weapons and supplies directly out of Pentagon stocks, in that the Defense Department contracts with industry to manufacture new weapons and munitions. Politico noted in a report yesterday that the use of contracting means that the weapons and supplies won’t arrive in Ukraine “for several years.”
A “fact sheet” accompanying today’s release reports that the Biden Administration has now committed $50.9 billion in military assistance to the Kiev regime, including $50.2 billion since the beginning of Russia’s special military operation.
