Biden Sends $800M In Weapons To Ukraine After Zelenskyy’s Emotional Appeal
The latest military aid includes anti-aircraft and anti-armor systems, plus guns and drones to help Ukrainians fight Russia.
The U.S. is sending an additional $800 million in military assistance to Ukraine, President Joe Biden announced Wednesday, hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an impassioned plea to Congress for more help.
The additional assistance, which brings the total the U.S. sent to Ukraine this week to $1 billion, is expected to help local forces better counter Russian missile attacks on major Ukrainian cities. But it does not fulfill all of Zelenskyy’s requests, which included American help to enact a no-fly zone over Ukraine as Russian leader Vladimir Putin continues to target civilians.
“This could be a long and difficult battle,” Biden said at the White House, flanked by Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “We are united in our abhorrence of Putin’s depraved onslaught, and we're going to continue to have their backs as they fight for their freedom, their democracy, their very survival.”
The new U.S. aid includes 800 anti-aircraft systems, including longer-range platforms; 9,000 shoulder-mounted anti-armor missiles to destroy tanks and vehicles; 7,000 machine guns, shotguns, and grenade launchers; and 20 million rounds of ammunition. The latest shipment will also include drones, demonstrating that America is willing to send its “most cutting-edge equipment” to Ukraine, Biden said.
Biden promised to send even more arms and impose more sanctions to cripple the Russian economy and isolate Moscow from the world.
“That’s our goal: make Putin pay the price, weaken his position while strengthening the hand of Ukrainians on the battlefield and at the negotiating table,” he said.
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