US pledges $820m in aid to Ukraine, including missile systems as Russia’s war drags on – National

The United States announced on Friday that it would provide Ukraine with $820 million in new military aid, including new surface-to-air missile systems and counter-artillery radars to meet the heavy reliance on the Russia to long-range strikes during the war.

In recent days, Russia has launched dozens of missiles across Ukraine and pinned down Ukrainian forces with continuous fire for sometimes hours at a time. Ukrainian leaders have publicly called on Western allies to quickly send more munitions and advanced systems that will help them close the equipment and manpower gap.

In total, the United States has committed more than $8.8 billion in arms and military training to Ukraine, whose leaders have asked Western allies for more help to fend off larger, heavily equipped Russian forces. . About $7 billion of this aid has been announced since the Russian invasion in February.

“We are going to support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” President Joe Biden said this week during a press conference at the NATO summit in Madrid. He argued that Russia had already suffered a blow to its international reputation and significant damage to its economy from Western sanctions imposed during the invasion.

The United States is giving Ukrainians « the ability » so that « they can continue to resist Russian aggression, » Biden said. « And so I don’t know how it’s going to end, but it’s not going to end with Russia defeating Ukraine in Ukraine. »

Under the new package, the United States will purchase two systems known as NASAMS, a Norwegian-developed anti-aircraft system that is used to protect the airspace around the White House and Capitol in Washington. The Pentagon will also supply the Ukrainians with up to 150,000 155 millimeter artillery rounds.

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Canada and the United States announce additional military assistance to Ukraine

The Pentagon will also provide additional munitions for the medium-range rocket systems it provided to Ukraine in June, known as High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS. Ammunition will be sourced from the Department of Defense’s own inventory under what is known as drawdown authority. This is the 14th batch of arms and military equipment transferred to Ukraine from Ministry of Defense stocks since August 2021.

The war has evolved into a crushing stalemate in which both sides are heavily reliant on artillery, according to Western officials and analysts. Although Russia has not achieved its initial goals of overthrowing the Ukrainian government, it is believed to be making slow progress in consolidating control over the region of eastern Ukraine known as Donbass.