- The US will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes”.
- With a $2 billion aid package.
- Including drones and anti-drone gear.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin promised that the US will support Ukraine “for as long as it takes” as the country announced a $2 billion aid package.
The security package also includes various drones and anti-drone gear. It also contains extra artillery ammo and rounds for the HIMARS rocket launchers.
Russia has occasionally cut off power to various regions of Ukraine by using Iranian drones to attack civilian facilities there.
This assistance falls through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which contracts with industry to buy the weapons, unlike drawdown packages that take military hardware straight from US stocks.
Although the assistance does not reach Ukraine as quickly, it is a part of a longer-term commitment to keep sending lethal and non-lethal supplies to the country.
As the war hits its one-year mark, Austin called Russia’s invasion “the most urgent danger to European security since the end of the World War II.”
Austin acknowledged the difficulties Ukraine would face as a result of the frequent Russian airstrikes, but he swore that the US and a group of partners operating under the Ukraine Defense Contact Group would continue to give Kyiv the equipment and supplies it requires for the conflict.
Difficult times may lie ahead, but let us remain clear-eyed about what is at stake in Ukraine. And let us remain united in purpose and in action—and steadfast in our commitment to ensure that a world of rules and rights is not replaced by one of tyranny and turmoil,” said Austin in a statement Friday.
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