US announces new arms package for Ukraine worth $500m
The administration of Democratic US President Joe Biden announced another package of weapons aid for Ukraine, valued at $500 million, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
White House spokesperson John Kirby said earlier the US would continue to provide additional packages for Ukraine “right up to the end of this administration.”
Washington said 10 days ago it would send Ukraine $725 million (€692 million) worth of missiles, ammunition, anti-personnel mines and other weapons.
Mr Biden’s outgoing administration is seeking to bolster Ukraine in tackling Russia’s invasion, before his term ends in January when Republican President-elect Donald Trump would take office.
The package worth about $500 million (€477 million) included ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs), among other assistance, according to Mr Blinken.
After Thursday, about $5.6 billion (€5.3 billion) worth of Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) to rush weapons from US stocks to the front lines remains available to Biden without requiring congressional approval.
Moscow’s troops have been capturing village after village in Ukraine’s east, part of a drive to seize the industrial Donbas region, while Russian air strikes target a hobbled Ukrainian energy grid as winter sets in.
Senior Ukraine official says Kyiv not yet ready for talks with Russia
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff said in an interview broadcast that Kyiv was not yet ready to start talks with Russia as it lacked the weapons, security guarantees and international status that it sought.
Andriy Yermak’s comments to public broadcaster Suspilne come as Mr Zelensky publicly considers the possibility of a negotiated settlement to the war with Russia, launched by Moscow’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.
“Not just yet today,” Yermak told Suspilne, when asked whether Ukraine was ready to embark on talks.
“We don’t have the weapons, we don’t have the status that we are talking about. And that means an invitation to NATO and an understanding of clear guarantees that would provide for us, so that we could be sure that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin won’t be coming back in two-three years.”
In comments this week alongside German opposition leader Friedrich Merz, Mr Zelensky said Ukraine wanted an end to the war and efforts were needed to make his country stronger and oblige the Kremlin to work towards peace.
In recent public pronouncements, the president has also said talks could take place with Russia still holding on to territory it has seized in the invasion.
But Ukraine, he said, needed an invitation issued to the entire country to join NATO, though the Alliance’s status would apply to the territory controlled by Kyiv authorities and real security guarantees had to be put in place.
While in Paris last week, Mr Zelensky met US President-elect Donald Trump, who has said, without giving details, that he wants the war to end quickly.
Russia has long rejected any notion of Ukraine becoming a NATO member, with Mr Putin saying Kyiv had to accept the Kremlin’s annexation of four Ukrainian regions it only partly controls.
