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The Biden administration announced a $988 million aid package on Saturday in Ukraine to ensure that it “has the necessary tools to prevail in its fight against Russian aggression.”
“This administration has made its choice. And so has a bipartisan coalition in Congress. The next administration has to make its own choice,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California “But from this library, from this podium, I’m sure President Reagan would have stood by Ukraine, American security, and human freedom.”
The aid package is being provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and will “provide Ukraine with ammunition for rocket systems and unmanned aerial systems,” the administration said. “This package also includes support for maintenance and repair programs to help Ukraine reconstitute its forces and build and sustain combat power.”
The announcement came as President-elect Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while at a ceremony marking the reopening of Notre Dame de Paris on Saturday after a devastating fire there in 2019.
The Biden administration announced a $988 million aid package to Ukraine on Saturday to ensure it “has the tools it needs to prevail in its fight against Russian aggression.” (Andrew Cabalero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
During the campaign, Trump and running mate JD Vance sharply criticized the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion, and Trump said he would end the war before even taking office without offering further details.
Vance also suggested earlier this year that the best way to end the war was for Ukraine to cede land seized by Russia and establish a demilitarized zone, a proposal that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flatly reject
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French President Emmanuel Macron, center, poses with President-elect Donald Trump, left, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Saturday. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Recently, Zelensky has said that he is more open to negotiations in the war and has asked that Ukraine be allowed to join NATO.
The Biden administration has pledged to give Ukraine as much aid as possible before Trump takes office in January.
“In September, the president announced an increase in security assistance to Ukraine to put Ukrainian forces in the strongest possible position before he leaves office,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Monday in a statement while announcing $725 million in aid to Ukraine.
Secretary Lloyd Austin (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“Between now and mid-January, we will deliver hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of additional rockets and other critical capabilities to help Ukraine defend its freedom and independence.”
Last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “President Biden has pledged to make sure that every dollar at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and to January 20”.
Saturday’s announcement marks the administration’s 22nd aid package through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
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This week, House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected an administration request that Congress authorize $24 billion in additional funding.
“It’s not Joe Biden’s place to make that decision now,” Johnson said. “We have a newly elected president, and we’re going to wait and take the new commander in chief on all of this. So I don’t expect any funding from Ukraine now.”
