US to provide $1.85 billion military aid, including Patriot missile system

Agencies | Washington                    

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

The Biden administration announced yesterday that it will provide $1.85 billion in military aid to Ukraine, rolling out funding for a Patriot missile battery.

This came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Washington for his first known trip out of his country since Russia invaded in February.

The White House announcement came just hours before Zelenskyy landed at Joint Base Andrews, just outside the capital.

The package includes $1 billion in weapons and equipment from Pentagon stocks, including the Patriot battery for the first time, and $850 million in funding through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.

Part of the USAI will be used to fund a satellite communications system, which likely will include the crucial SpaceX Starlink satellite network system owned by Elon Musk.

“As Russia continues its brutal attacks against critical infrastructure in Ukraine, the United States welcomes President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Washington, D.C. today to underscore our enduring commitment to the people of Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, adding that the US will be providing “critical new and additional military capabilities to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia’s ongoing brutal and unprovoked assault.”

Zelenskyy will address a joint session of Congress where bipartisan support for Ukraine is expected to be reaffirmed with nearly $40 billion in support for Kyiv in 2023. “Over the past three hundred days, the Kremlin has tried and failed to wipe Ukraine off the map,” Blinken said.

“Now, Russia is trying to weaponize winter by freezing and starving Ukrainian civilians and forcing families from their homes.” Ukraine is currently under a rolling barrage of Russian missile and drone strikes on its energy and electricity infrastructure, attacks that have killed civilians and badly crippled power supplies as the country sinks into winter.

There are also fears Russia could launch a large winter offensive as the ground hardens. Until now, the United States had held off on sending the Patriot system to Ukraine over fears it could escalate the war.

But the Biden administration has changed its position after weeks of deliberation over the highly classified technology the weapon contains. The Pentagon said the Patriot will “add to a layered defense to counter the full range of threats currently menacing Ukraine’s cities and civilians” and bolster previous air defense capabilities the United States has given to the embattled country.