White House Announces $1.7 Billion in New Weapons, Funds for Ukraine

Ukrainian soldiers fire a shell from a towed howitzer FH-70 at a front line in the Donbas region, Ukraine, on July 18, 2022. (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

The Biden administration announced on July 29 about $1.7 billion in new weapons and military funding for Ukraine.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby announced an about $200 million weapons package during a call with news media outlets on the morning of July 29. This falls under President Joe Biden’s drawdown authority.

The Department of Defense also announced another $1.5 billion in funds for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. This funding will help Ukraine to sustain weapons systems that the United States already has allocated, according to a statement issued by the Pentagon on July 29.

The $200 million weapons package will include new shipments of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, various short- and medium-range air defense munitions, new High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, 155 mm and 105 mm tube artillery shells, 120 mm mortar rounds, various anti-tank missile launchers and anti-tank missiles, small arms, explosives and demolition equipment, communications equipment, electronic warfare equipment, and other spare parts and maintenance tools, according to the statement.

This latest package of weapons and funding for Ukraine draws from the roughly $61 billion that Congress allocated for Ukraine in April.

“Since the national security supplemental passed Congress in late April, President Biden and the United States government has delivered for Ukraine,” Mr. Kirby said.

“The president has authorized nine security assistance packages since late April, and the men and women of our armed forces have been working around the clock to get those weapons and that equipment into Ukraine as quickly as possible.”

Mr. Kirby said the aid has helped Ukrainian forces shore up their defenses and stave off fears of a major Russian strategic breakthrough on the battlefield.

Although battlefield reports suggest that Russian forces are making incremental advances, the White House spokesman said those Russian forces are paying “extraordinary costs” in terms of personnel losses for “very little gain.”

In all, the U.S. government has appropriated about $174 billion for Ukraine and to European allies and partners since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Other NATO members have assisted Ukraine throughout the conflict. Earlier this month, NATO announced that it had gathered commitments from across the alliance to provide another $40 billion in funding for Ukraine within the next year.

Last week, the European Union transferred $1.6 billion to Ukraine, drawing from frozen Russian assets.

“The Biden–Harris administration will continue to work together with more than 50 allies and partners in the global coalition that we’ve assembled to help Ukraine prevail against Russia’s aggression,” Mr. Kirby said on July 29.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian representatives recently signaled some willingness to engage in more direct talks with Russia. These comments may signal an about-face from a 2022 decree, in which Mr. Zelenskyy effectively banned Ukrainian government representatives from communicating with Russia—in any capacity—as long as Mr. Putin remains in power.

The Russian government has asked for clarification as to whether Ukrainian officials are offering to discuss an end to the fighting and what policy preconditions those Ukrainian officials may place on the negotiations.

Adam Morrow contributed to this article.