WASHINGTON –
The U.S. is preparing to send Ukraine an additional US$725 million in military assistance, including counter-drone systems and munitions for its High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, which could indicate more of the longer-range missiles are headed to the battlefield.
Two U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the package before it was announced, did not confirm whether the munitions for the HIMARS are the coveted ATACMS — the Army Tactical Missile System. But Ukraine has been pressing for more of the longer-range missiles to strike additional targets inside Russia.
The package also includes more of the anti-personnel land mines that Ukraine is counting on to slow Russian and North Korean ground forces in Russia’s Kursk region.
U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged to spend all of the military assistance funds Congress approved earlier this year for Ukraine before the end of his administration on Jan. 20, which before Monday’s news included about US$7.1 billion in weapons that would be drawn from the Pentagon’s stockpiles.
There is widespread speculation about what the new Trump administration will mean for Ukraine as the incoming president has promised to end the conflict. In a major shift, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signaled on Friday that an an offer of NATO membership to territory under Kyiv’s control could end “the hot stage of the war.”