US announces additional security assistance for Ukraine

WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday announced a new round of security assistance to Ukraine that included advanced anti-aircraft and aerial defence systems as well as additional ammunition for advanced rocket systems.

Totalling US$820 million, the new weapons come in two parts, according to an announcement from the Department of Defence. Fifty million dollars' worth of aid, of which additional ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems is a part, will be drawn from the presidential drawdown authority that authorises President Joe Biden to directly tap into existing US weapons inventories, Xinhua reported.

The remaining US$770 million falls under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, through which the US government contracts with arms manufacturers to make weapons for Ukraine. In this part, the United States will provide Ukraine with two National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, 150,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition for the howitzers and four counter-artillery radars, the Pentagon said.

The United States has now committed US$6.9 billion of security assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched the special military operation on Feb 24 and a total of US$7.6 billion since the start of the Biden administration.

-- BERNAMA