The US is preparing another military aid package of around $800 million to support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, sources told Reuters on Thursday.
President Joe Biden could officially announce the decision on Friday or at some point next week, the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed.
The assistance is to be authorized using the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the head of state to transfer surplus weapons from US stocks, they added.
The sources didn’t mention the specific types of weapons to be included in the package, and cautioned that weapons deliveries can change in value before they are announced.
The White House declined to comment when addressed by Reuters on the issue.
The US has been the strongest supporter of Ukraine since the start of Russia’s military operation, providing the country with billions of dollars in military and financial aid, as well as intelligence data. Washington’s deliveries to Kiev have included such sophisticated hardware as HIMARS multiple rocket launchers, M777 howitzers and combat drones.
Earlier this week, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said the Americans were “trying to prolong this conflict” between Moscow and Kiev, assigning the role of “cannon fodder” to Ukrainians in Washington’s “anti-Russia project.”
The US has been “pumping the Kiev regime with weapons, including heavy weapons, and continues to do so,” Putin insisted.
Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”
In February 2022, the Kremlin recognized the Donbass republics as independent states and demanded that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.