Biden announces $2.5 billion in security aid to Ukraine
WASHINGTON — The United States is sending nearly $2.5 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, as the Biden administration continues to rush military aid to Kyiv in the weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The aid will include air defense, artillery and other critical weapons systems, President Joe Biden said in a statement Monday morning.
“I’ve directed my administration to continue surging as much assistance to Ukraine as quickly as possible,” he said, “including drawing down older U.S. equipment for Ukraine, rapidly delivering it to the battlefield and then revitalizing the U.S. defense industrial base to modernize and replenish our stockpiles with new weapons.”
The package includes $1.25 billion from existing Pentagon stockpiles. An additional $1.22 billion will come from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a program that allows military equipment to be procured from the defense industry or partners and sent to Ukraine.
Separately, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a statement Monday that the administration had released $3.4 billion in additional budget aid to Ukraine. The support, which is provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department, “marks the final disbursement of funds appropriated under the bipartisan Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024,” the Treasury statement said. “Our direct budget support continues to be conditioned on reforms related to strengthening law enforcement, improving transparency and efficiency of government institutions, and bolstering anticorruption rules and procedures.”
