Pentagon announces $6 billion for long-term arms contracts in Ukraine

The United States on Friday announced a $6 billion arms package for Ukraine, the largest military aid package to date for Kiev’s forces.

The weapons and equipment will include critical interceptors for Ukraine’s Patriot and NASAM air defense systems, significant quantities of artillery ammunition, air-to-ground munitions, anti-drone weapons and maintenance and sustainment support, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters. reporters.

The aid tranche, which will be drawn from the $61 billion in Ukraine funding signed by President Biden on Wednesday, will be contracted through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. This means the US will buy new equipment made by American defense companies for the Ukrainian military rather than drawing from its own stockpiles, a process that could take months or years before the weapons reach the embattled country.

“This is the largest security assistance package we have committed to yet,” Austin said after meeting virtually with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a coalition of about 50 countries aimed at providing Kiev’s military with weapons, critical systems and equipment.

Friday’s meeting marked the second anniversary of the group, which has provided Ukraine with more than $95 billion worth of ammunition, rocket systems, tanks and fighter planes to help Ukraine defend itself against an invading Russian army.

The $6 billion deal announced on Friday adds to a $1 billion lethal assistance package the Pentagon unveiled on Wednesday – shortly after Biden signed the supplemental national security law – aimed at to quickly send equipment to Ukraine.

This aid, which will be quickly withdrawn from US stockpiles, will provide critical artillery and air defense munitions to Kiev as its forces struggle with increasingly scarce resources to repel Russia’s invasion.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expects even bigger systems. On Friday, he asked the US for at least seven more Patriot batteries to create a shield around Ukrainian cities to prevent further Russian missile attacks.

“We urgently need Patriot systems and missiles for them,” Zelensky said at the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group meeting. “This is what can and should save lives now.”

Washington has already sent a Patriot battery to Ukraine in a previous package, but Zelensky said more would “really change the situation” on the battlefield.

Austin said that during the meeting, the US “particularly pushed today to introduce more air defense systems and interceptors” into Ukraine. He also said that in recent days he had personally spoken with several of his European counterparts about providing Ukraine with additional Patriot systems.

But he warned against making Patriot “the silver bullet” to help Ukraine defeat Russia.

“It will be a combination of several systems. It will depend on whether or not Ukraine can effectively employ these systems and sustain them, and whether or not Ukraine can mobilize adequate numbers of troops to replenish its ranks,” Austin said. “We continue to work on all of these things simultaneously.”