The United States President, Joe Biden accused Russian President Vladimir Putin’s forces of committing “atrocities” and attacking civilian areas, contrary to the Kremlin’s denials.
According to the White House Statement, fresh U.S. aid to Ukraine would include assistance obtaining a longer-range anti-aircraft system. Other supplies will include 800 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, 9,000 anti-tank missiles and 7,000 small arms along with 20 million rounds of ammunition.
President Joe Biden’s remarks followed an emotional appeal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to Congress earlier Wednesday, in which he urged the U.S. to close its ports to all Russian goods and provide Ukraine with fighter jets, something the Biden administration has not yet agreed to facilitate. After showing lawmakers a graphic video of Ukrainian casualties in the war, including children, Zelenskiy addressed Biden directly in English: “Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.”
President Biden held an event Tuesday (with a crowd of reporters watching) to sign into law the government spending bill that includes a total of $13.6 billion in humanitarian, economic and defense aid for Ukraine. The White House is emphasizing on what it is willing to do diplomatically and on a humanitarian basis to demonstrate support for Ukraine, announcing Tuesday that Biden will fly to Brussels next week for “extraordinary summit” with NATO allies.
The package demonstrates the U.S. commitment to sending our most cutting-edge systems to Ukraine for its defense.” He said U.S. weapons already provided to Ukraine have helped “inflict dramatic losses on Russian forces.”
The White House is promoting $1 billion in security assistance the U.S. has authorized for Ukraine in the past week, bringing the total for the last year to $2 billion. Officials stated that the U.S. is the largest single donor of such aid to Ukraine.
On Tuesday, The U.S. President Joe Biden signed a $1.5 trillion government funding bill, and on Wednesday authorized spending $800 million on security assistance. On Saturday, he signed off an additional $200 million for arms and equipment as part of a stopgap spending bill.
The Armament assistance previously provided to Ukraine included about 600 Stinger antiaircraft systems, 2,600 Javelin anti-armor systems, an undisclosed number of helicopters and patrol boats, 200 machine guns, 200 grenade launchers, and 40 million rounds of small-arms ammunition.
The help provided still falls short of Zelenskiy’s biggest requests: A no-fly zone over Ukraine or the transfer of fighter jets from NATO countries. The white house is still reluctant to directly engage in conflict by agreeing to such requests.
