US announces $2bln in new Ukraine military aid

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A top US official said Thursday, a day before the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine, that the US will send Ukraine a new $2 billion military aid package. "Today, the United States announced a further $2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on CNN.

Deliveries of F-16 fighter jets to Kiev are a long-term issue, US President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart Vladimir Zelensky have discussed the topic, Sullivan told CNN.

"F-16s are not a question for the short-term fight. F-16s are a question for the long-term defense of Ukraine and that's a conversation that President Biden and President Zelensky had," he said.

Although Sullivan did not give details about the types of armaments to be expected in the package, the Pentagon later revealed that the package for Ukraine includes additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and Switchblade 600 drones, among other weaponry.

"Capabilities in this security assistance package include: Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), Additional 155mm artillery rounds, Munitions for laser-guided rocket systems, Switchblade 600 UAS," the Pentagon said in a press release.

The package also includes counter-drone and electronic warfare detection equipment, mine clearing equipment, secure communications, support equipment, and surveillance drones, according to the release.

In a surprise visit to Kiev this week, President Joe Biden was accompanied by Sullivan, who claimed that US officials were constantly considering how "to give Ukraine the tools that it needs to win."

He mentioned that, in addition to prior commitments of US armored vehicles and, at a later time, tanks, Biden had given Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "an announcement of more artillery, more ammunition, and more HIMARS" while in Kiev.

HIMARS is a US multiple rocket system that Ukrainian forces have used during the war. 

One year into the #Ukraine war, the #Biden administration and the #US Congress have directed nearly more than $75 billion in assistance to Ukraine, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. pic.twitter.com/qdf3KkuGBw

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) February 23, 2023

Furthermore, according to the National Security Advisor, the United States sees no change in the readiness of Russian nuclear forces and has made no changes in the readiness of its own forces.

"We do not see any change in Russia's nuclear posture and we've made no changes in our nuclear posture," Sullivan said when asked if he thought that Russia could use nuclear weapons.

"So we are constantly vigilant and we also maintain regular channels [of communication] to the Russian government to be able to talk to them about the risk of this escalation and also communicate the severity of the consequences of the use of nuclear weapons," Sullivan continued. He reiterated that the US has not "seen movements in Russia's nuclear forces that lead us to believe that something fundamentally has changed from how things have been over the course of the past year."

Read next: HIMARS are useless, Russia has "remarkably adapted": NYT

A few days ago, on February 21, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy reported that the US has officially overtaken Europe in assistance to Ukraine since the recent announcement of committing the staggering amount of 73.1 billion euros ($77.95 billion) in financial and military assistance to Kiev.

"With additional data now collected (November 21 to January 15), the US again takes the lead. With additional pledges of nearly 37 billion euros in December, the Americans have earmarked a total of just over 73.1 billion euros for Ukraine support. For the EU, the comparable figure is 54.9 billion euros," the Institute said in a statement, noting that the amount of financial and military assistance had increased, while humanitarian pledges remained at similar levels.  

The statement further pointed out that the volume of support was lower than the costs incurred by Western countries in previous wars. 

"The United States, for example, spent more than 3 times as much per year compared to their expenses in the Afghanistan war after 2001. Germany committed more than 3 times as much to Allies in the Gulf War of 1990/91 compared to what it has committed to Ukraine (again measured in percent of GDP)," the statement read.  

The data did not take into account the delivery of tanks from Western allies, which was announced earlier this month. 

Earlier, the Pentagon said in a statement that the total amount of US assistance to Kiev had exceeded $30 billion since the start of Biden's term. 

Read next: 600+ Ukrainian troops finish expanded US training: Pentagon