US Sending $625 Million in Military Assistance to Ukraine

President Joe Biden attends the second meeting of the Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access in Washington on Oct. 4, 2022. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

President Joe Biden’s administration is sending a fresh package of $625 million in howitzers and other military equipment to Ukraine to help the country defend against Russia.

The equipment includes four high-mobility artillery rocket systems, ammunition for the systems, anti-tank mines, and vehicles designed to be mine-resistant.

Ukrainian forces, who have been using previous aid packages “so effectively on the battlefield,” will be able to “maintain momentum” against Russia with the new aid, Laura Cooper, a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Defense, told reporters in Washington on Oct. 4.

Ukraine recently liberated Lyman, a city in the region of Donetsk, and U.S. officials say Ukrainian forces have been making progress in the Kharkiv region.

Billions of Dollars

The new package is the 22nd drawdown ordered by Biden or a presidential designate. The total aid now committed to Ukraine since the start of the Biden administration is $17.5 billion, with more than $16.8 billion of that coming since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

Congress approved some $54 billion in aid to Ukraine this year. The temporary government funding bill approved by lawmakers last week and signed by Biden added an additional $12 billion for military and other assistance for Russia’s neighbor.

“Together with our allies and partners, the United States has been delivering an unprecedented amount of weapons and equipment that Ukraine’s forces are utilizing very efficiently, including to retake their territory that has been seized illegally by Russia,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters in Washington. “Throughout this year, the United States has rallied the world to support the people of Ukraine as they defend their freedom and democracy against Russian aggression. As we are demonstrating again today, the United States will continue to provide Ukraine with key capabilities to meet their evolving battlefield requirements.”

Biden spoke with Ukraine’s president, Vladimir Zelenskyy, before the announcement.

During the call, Biden said the United States will never recognize the Ukraine regions that voted in referendums to join Russia, which Russian lawmakers have since ratified. The regions include Donetsk.

The Biden administration already imposed a new slate of sanctions in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin saying the regions are officially part of Russia now.

The Pentagon, meanwhile, said Tuesday it could not verify reports that Russia might be transporting nuclear weapons on trains.

“I don’t have anything else but the open source reports,” Cooper said.

Jean-Pierre said that the United States has not adjusted its own nuclear posture and does not have any indication that Russia “is preparing to imminently use nuclear weapons.”