US pledges US$1.7 billion in new military aid for Ukraine

Aid package includes US$200 million in equipment that will be drawn from existing US military stocks, the Defence Department said

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, right, visits an army command post in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region. Photo: Ukraine Presidency / dpa

Published: 3:04am, 30 Jul 2024

The United States on Monday announced new military aid for Ukraine valued at around US$1.7 billion that features air defence munitions and artillery rounds that Kyiv’s forces say they desperately need.

The aid includes US$200 million in equipment that will be drawn from existing US military stocks and will reach the battlefield quickly, as well as about US$1.5 billion in new orders that will take longer to arrive, the Defence Department said in a statement.

The help will provide Ukraine with several kinds of air defence munitions to protect against Russian strikes, artillery rounds, ammunition for HIMARS precision rocket launchers, and multiple kinds of anti-tank weapons, among other capabilities.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a social media post that he was “deeply grateful” to his US counterpart Joe Biden, the US Congress and the American people for the help.

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The aid includes items that are “critical to strengthening Ukrainian defenders, as well as funding to sustain previously committed equipment from the United States,” he said.

Zelensky on Monday visited special forces in the border region of Kharkiv, where Moscow’s forces launched a surprise ground offensive in May but failed to make any breakthroughs.