US president unveils aid worth nearly $8bn, including ‘long-range’ missiles, ahead of talks with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy.United States President Joe Biden has said that he will provide Ukraine with military aid totalling nearly $8bn ahead of a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Biden announced the “surge in security assistance” for Ukraine on Thursday, saying that the aid would be provided in two tranches of $5.5bn and $2.4bn, the package including the provision of Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) munitions to “enhance Ukraine’s long-range strike capabilities”.
Zelenskyy, who is scheduled to meet Biden in Washington, DC, at midday (16:00 GMT) on Thursday, thanked the US president and both parties in the US Congress for the “long-range missiles” and other military hardware, including an “additional Patriot air defence battery”, interceptors, drones and air-to-ground munitions.
“We will use this assistance in the most efficient and transparent manner to achieve our major common goal: victory for Ukraine, just and lasting peace, and transatlantic security,” said Zelenskyy on social media platform X.
Biden said assisting Ukraine had been “a top priority” of his term in office, announcing that $5.5bn in aid would be allocated before Monday’s end of the US fiscal year when his administration’s funding authority is set to expire.
He also announced another $2.4bn in aid under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows the administration to buy weapons for Ukraine …
