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Biden Administration Announces Nearly $6 Billion in New Ukraine Aid

ANTIWAR.com, Dave DeCamp, 31 Dec 24

Ukraine is receiving about $2.5 billion in military aid and $3.4 billion in ‘budget support,’ which funds government salaries and servicesby Dave DeCamp December 30, 2024.

The Biden administration on Monday announced nearly $6 billion in new aid for Ukraine as it’s determined to escalate the proxy war as much as possible before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated on January 20, 2025.

The aid includes $3.4 billion in “direct budget support,” a form of assistance meant to pay for Ukrainian government services, salaries, pensions, and other types of spending. It has also been used to subsidize Ukrainian small businesses and farmers.……………………….

Ukraine is also receiving nearly $2.5 billion in military aid from the US, which includes $1.22 billion from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a program that allows the US to purchase weapons for Ukraine. The remaining military aid is in the form of the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which enables President Biden to ship weapons directly from US military stockpiles.

The Biden administration is dumping more weapons into Ukraine even though there’s no path to a Ukrainian victory on the battlefield as Russian forces continue to make gains in the Donbas and Ukraine’s invading force in Kursk is being pushed out. Biden officials are determined to keep the war going and are even pressuring Ukraine to begin conscripting 18-year-olds.

According to the Pentagon, the new military aid includes:

Spare parts, maintenance and sustainment support, ancillary equipment, services, training, and transportation

Munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS)

HAWK air defense munitions

Stinger missiles

Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (c-UAS) munitions

Ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS)

155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition

Air-to-ground munitions

High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs)

Unmanned Aerials Systems (UAS)

Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems

Tube-launched, Optically guided, Wire-tracked (TOW) missiles

Small arms and ammunition and grenades

Demolitions equipment and munitions

Secure communications equipment

Commercial satellite imagery services

Medical equipment

Clothing and individual equipment

In recent months, President Biden signed off on several significant escalations in the proxy war, including supporting long-range strikes on Russian territory and the provision of widely banned anti-personnel mines to Ukraine. 

Biden asked Congress for an additional $24 billion to spend on Ukraine, but the request was rejected by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), who said any decisions on Ukraine aid would be up to Trump.  https://news.antiwar.com/2024/12/30/biden-administration-announces-nearly-6-billion-in-new-ukraine-aid/

January 4, 2025 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Ukraine, USA, weapons and war