The United States government announced that it would be sending another round of foreign aid worth $270 million to Ukraine on Friday to help the war-torn nation defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Friday, the Department of Defense announced that the Biden administration has sent Ukraine more than $8.2 billion in aid since the start of his administration, including $7.3 billion since Russia invaded in late February.
“Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced $270 million in additional security assistance for Ukraine,” the DOD said in a press release. “This includes President Biden’s announcement of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $175 million, as well as $95 million in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds.”
The press release noted that the Presidential Drawdown is the “sixteenth such drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories for Ukraine that the Biden Administration has authorized since August 2021.”
According to the Pentagon, Ukraine will be provided with four additional high mobility artillery rocket systems and additional ammunition for HIMARS, four command post vehicles, 36,000 rounds of 105mm ammunition, additional anti-armor weapons, spare parts, and other equipment, as well as 80 Phoenix Ghost tactical unmanned aerial systems.
This round of aid comes just 10 days after the U.S. government and the World Bank announced they were sending a combined $1.7 billion in assistance to the Ukrainian government in an effort to support health care workers in the war-torn nation.
On July 12, the Associated Press reported that the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced that the funds were being provided to help stop Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “brutal war of aggression.”
USAID has now sent approximately $4 billion in financial support to Ukraine.
USAID administrator Samantha Power told the AP that while Putin’s “assault on Ukraine’s public services continues, the United States is rushing in with financial support to help the government keep the lights on, provide essential services to innocent citizens and pay the health care workers who are providing lifesaving support on the frontlines.”
For his part, President Joe Biden has maintained that the U.S. will continue to support Ukraine through various measures indefinitely in order to defeat Russia.
“We are going to support Ukraine as long as it takes,” Biden told reporters when asked about the future of the United States’ commitment to Ukraine in late June.
“They’ve had to renege on their national debt for the first time since the beginning, in almost well over a hundred years. They’ve lost 15 years of the gains they’ve made in terms of their economy,” Biden said of Russia. “They’re going to have trouble maintaining oil production because they don’t have the technology to do it. They need American technology. They’re also in a similar satiation in terms of their weapons systems and some of their military systems. So they’re paying a very, very heavy price for this.”
“I don’t know how it’s going to end but it will not end, but it will not end with a Russian defeat of Ukraine in Ukraine,” Biden added.
The president has also said Americans should expect to pay high gas prices until Russia is defeated.
In June, a reporter commented on the high prices of gas in the U.S. and asked Biden, “How long is it fair to expect American drivers and drivers around the world to pay that premium for this war?”
Biden responded again by saying that Americans should expect to pay higher prices at the pump until Putin is stopped.
“As long as it takes,” Biden responded, “so Russia cannot in fact defeat Ukraine and move beyond Ukraine. This is a critical, critical position for the world. Here we are. Why do we have NATO? I told Putin that in fact, if he were to move, we would move to strengthen NATO. We would move to strengthen NATO across the board.”