US announces $1.7 bn in new security assistance for Ukraine

US announces $1.7 bn in new security assistance for Ukraine
By W.G. DUNLOP
Washington (AFP) July 29, 2024

The United States on Monday announced new military aid for Ukraine valued at around $1.7 billion that features air defense munitions and artillery rounds that Kyiv's forces say they desperately need.

The aid includes $200 million in equipment that will be drawn from existing US military stocks and will reach the battlefield quickly, as well as about $1.5 billion in new orders that will take longer to arrive, the Defense Department said in a statement.

The assistance will provide Ukraine with several kinds of air defense munitions to protect against Russian strikes, artillery rounds, ammunition for HIMARS precision rocket launchers, and multiple kinds of anti-tank weapons, among other capabilities.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media post that he was "deeply grateful" to his US counterpart Joe Biden, the US Congress and the American people for the assistance.

The aid includes items that are "critical to strengthening Ukrainian defenders, as well as funding to sustain previously committed equipment from the United States," he said.

Zelensky on Monday visited special forces in the border region of Kharkiv, where Moscow's forces launched a surprise ground offensive in May but failed to make any major breakthroughs.

There, he "witnessed firsthand how such ongoing assistance allows us to save lives and protect people from Russian attacks," the Ukrainian leader said.

- Battlefield deadlock -

The United States has been a key military backer of Ukraine, committing more than $55 billion in weapons, ammunition and other security assistance since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

But prior to late April, Washington had announced only limited new aid for Ukraine this year -- a $300 million package made possible by using money that the Pentagon had saved on other purchases.

Congress had not approved large-scale funding for Kyiv for nearly a year and a half but finally took action in April after months of acrimonious debate, passing legislation authorizing $95 billion in aid, including $61 billion for Ukraine.

Washington has since provided multiple new packages, but Ukrainian Zelensky has said Russia was able to take the initiative on the battlefield while his country waited for the approval of new aid.

On Monday, Russia said its forces had captured the village of Vovche in eastern Ukraine -- the latest in a string of recent front-line advances claimed by Moscow.

The Ukrainian military said Monday that it had repelled six Russian attacks on the Kharkiv front line over the past day, including at Vovchansk, a small town that Moscow's forces have been trying to capture since May.

Now grinding through a third year of fighting, neither Kyiv nor Moscow have managed to swing the conflict decisively in their favor, even though Moscow's forces have gained ground in recent months.