Total US military assistance to Ukraine amounts to $1.2 billion
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Blinken claims the funds will "help Ukrainian troops counter both armored and airborne threats."
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A senior airman inspects cargo netting on palletized ammunition, weapons and other equipment being sent to Ukraine on January 24, 2022. (US Air Force)
After Washington's authorization of $200 million allocated to Ukraine, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the budget will "help Ukrainian troops counter both armored and airborne threats."
"Exercising the additional authority provided in the extension of the continuing resolution, I have immediately authorized today, pursuant to a delegation by the President, a fourth Presidential Drawdown of up to $200 million for additional military assistance for Ukraine’s defense. This package will include further defensive assistance to help Ukraine meet the armored, airborne, and other threats it is facing," Blinken said in a statement on Saturday.
The accumulated amount of assistance sent from the US to Ukraine, as of yesterday, is over $1.2 billion.
On Saturday, US President Joe Biden authorized a drawdown of up to $200 million for "defense articles" and military training to provide military assistance to Ukraine, the White House stated.
Under the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act, Biden delegated to Secretary of State Antony Blinken the authority to "direct the drawdown of up to an aggregate value of $200 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training."
Earlier, Biden has been exceedingly clear that no American forces will fight in Ukraine, including in the country's sky, a senior American defense official said Wednesday.
"The President has been exceedingly clear there will be no US troops fighting in Ukraine, that includes in the skies over Ukraine," the official underlined.
"Nothing has changed about that policy, no one is looking for an armed conflict with Russia here in the United States," he claimed.
In January, a report published by Politico revealed that US President Joe Biden's administration "quietly authorized an additional $200 million in security assistance to Ukraine."
