The new assistance was announced by the Pentagon and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Polish state news agency PAP reported.
USD 1 billion in security assistance to Ukraine
The Pentagon said that the new, 18th military package is “the largest single drawdown of US arms and equipment” for Ukraine to date.
It provides “a significant amount of additional ammunition, weapons, and equipment - the types of which the Ukrainian people are using so effectively to defend their country,” reporters were told.
The package includes additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); 75,000 rounds of 155 mm artillery ammunition; twenty 120 mm mortar systems and 20,000 rounds of 120 mm mortar ammunition; munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS); 1,000 Javelin and hundreds of AT4 anti-armor systems; 50 armored medical treatment vehicles; Claymore anti-personnel munitions; C-4 explosives, demolition munitions, and demolition equipment; and medical supplies, to include first-aid kits, bandages, monitors, and other equipment.
Monday’s announcement brings the United States’ security assistance to Ukraine to some USD 9.8 billion since the beginning of the Biden administration and over USD 11.8 billion since 2014, according to officials.
“To meet Ukraine’s evolving battlefield requirements, the United States will continue to work with its Allies and partners to provide Ukraine with key capabilities calibrated to make a difference,” Acting Pentagon Press Secretary Todd Breasseale said.
USD 4.5 billion in direct budgetary support
Meanwhile, USAID announced an additional USD 4.5 billion "in direct budgetary support to the Government of Ukraine to help alleviate the acute budget deficit caused by Putin’s brutal war of aggression.”
The agency said that Kyiv would receive the funding through the World Bank, in tranches, “beginning with a USD 3 billion disbursement in August.”
USAID added that the new funds “allow the Government of Ukraine to maintain essential functions to its people, including social and financial assistance to Ukrainians further pushed into poverty since the start of the war, children with disabilities, and internally displaced persons.”
These additional resources bring US direct budgetary support to the government of Ukraine to USD 8.5 billion, officials told reporters.
Direct budgetary support enables Kyiv “to carry out core functions – for example, keeping gas and electricity flowing to hospitals, schools, and other critical infrastructure, supporting the provision of humanitarian supplies to citizens, and continuing to pay the salaries of civil servants, healthcare workers and teachers,” USAID said.
The agency stressed that “robust safeguards put in place by the World Bank, coupled with USAID-funded, expert third-party oversight embedded within the Ukrainian government, ensure accountability and transparency in the use of these funds.”
World Bank Group President David Malpass said: “Ukraine needs continued government services, including health, education, and social protection to prevent further deterioration in living conditions and poverty."
Tuesday is day 167 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, defense.gov, usaid.gov, worldbank.org