Biden announces 325 million in aid for Ukraine: the package includes air defense systems, ammunition and machine guns
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, announced this Thursday another 325 million dollars (305 million euros) in aid for Ukraine – the third package since the start of the war – and announced that the first Abrams tanks announced in January will arrive to Ukraine next week.
Biden made this announcement at the beginning of a meeting at the White House between members of his Government and the Ukrainian Government, headed by President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I have approved the next delivery of US security aid to Ukraine, which includes more artillery, ammunition and anti-tank weapons. In addition, next week the first Abrams tanks from the United States will be delivered to Ukraine,” the US president said.
The new aid package does not include the long-range ATACMS missiles, which Ukraine has been insistently demanding for months and which the United States has refused to provide for fear of provoking an escalation of war with Russia.
According to Biden, this new aid package “will protect Ukraine, Ukraine's grain silos, hospitals, schools and power plants.”. “It will help save Ukrainian lives,” he said, according to the NBC news network.
The package does contain weaponry to strengthen Ukraine's air defenses against Russian attacks, both now and during the upcoming winter season, when Russia could again attack critical infrastructure such as the electricity supply needed to keep homes heated.
Specifically, it will include another HAWK anti-aircraft defense battery, which can shoot down aircraft, as well as systems capable of intercepting missiles in order to protect the civilian population.. According to the American newspaper The Washington Post, the package also includes “50-caliber machine guns that can be used against Russian drones that have terrorized Ukrainian cities and towns in recent months.”
The United States will also send artillery munitions and cluster bombs to Ukraine, as Biden announced in July despite criticism from organizations such as Human Rights Watch (HWR), which are concerned about the impact of this weaponry on the civilian population.
Package details
According to the Pentagon statement, the package consists of the following weapons:
- AIM-9M missiles for air defense
- Additional ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS)
- Avenger air defense systems
- 50 caliber machine guns to counter unmanned aerial systems
- 155mm artillery shells, DPICM included
- 105mm artillery shells
- Wire-guided, optically tracked, tube-launched (TOW) missiles
- Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems
- More than 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition
- 59 light tactical vehicles
- Demolition ammunition for obstacle clearance
- Spare parts, maintenance and other field equipment
The American president has reiterated once again that “Russia is the only one that stands in the way of peace,” and has denounced that “what they have done to the children” of Ukrainians “is simply criminal.”
Zelensky, for his part, thanked the new American shipment. “All these days they are with us, with the Ukrainians, with the ordinary people,” said a Ukrainian head of state who described the meeting with Biden as “productive.”
Conference in autumn
Likewise, the United States announced this Thursday that in the fall it will organize a conference in which it will bring together the American defense industry with Ukrainian businessmen, as well as officials from both governments, to study possible options for joint companies and arms co-production.
The meeting, which the White House reported in a statement, was agreed upon by the president of the United States, Joe Biden, together with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, after holding a meeting in the Oval Office in which the American president reiterated his commitment to a “just” and “lasting” peace for Ukraine.