What's in the 'larger than normal' aid package the US will send to Ukraine?
Apr 23, 2024
Kyiv [Ukraine], April 23: Politico on April 22 cited information from US officials saying that President Joe Biden's administration is preparing a large aid package for Ukraine. The British Prime Minister also announced the country's largest aid package for Kyiv.
US Department of Defense officials are still completing the final stages of the new aid package and want to be ready to transfer it to Ukraine as soon as President Joe Biden signs the $60 billion aid bill. Politico said the foreign aid bill, passed by the House of Representatives, could be approved by the Senate on April 23.
US officials say the Pentagon 's upcoming aid package will be much larger than the most recent $300 million package transferred to Ukraine, including Bradley fighting vehicles, Humvees, M113 armored personnel carriers and missiles.
President Zelensky says Ukraine will not turn into 'second Afghanistan'
In a phone call with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on April 22, President Joe Biden pledged to provide "important security assistance packages to meet urgent needs on the battlefield and Ukraine's air defense system." .
Celeste Wallander, the Pentagon's assistant secretary for international security affairs, recently told lawmakers that the Department of Defense is planning to deliver aid "within a week or two" when the bill takes effect.
The Pentagon sent an aid package to Ukraine in December 2023, and in March sent an additional $300 million emergency aid package, including artillery, air defense systems and long-range missiles.
In another development, Sky News reported on April 22 that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will announce a $500 million aid package for Ukraine. This package includes about 400 vehicles, 60 boats, 1,600 attack and anti-aircraft missiles and 4 million rounds of ammunition, said to be the largest British ammunition aid package to Ukraine to date.
Prime Minister Sunak will visit Poland on April 23 and make an aid announcement, which is part of the 3 billion pound ($3.7 billion) budget used to support Ukraine this fiscal year.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
