MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) - The United States has announced the year's final package of weapons and equipment for Ukraine as the Biden administration's funding requests for its ally is pending approval by the Congress.
Announcing the latest tranche of U.S. military assistance, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, 'This package provides up to $250 million of arms and equipment under previously directed drawdowns for Ukraine.'
'It is imperative that Congress act swiftly, as soon as possible, to advance our national security interests by helping Ukraine defend itself and secure its future,' Blinken said.
With funds to arm Ukraine nearly exhausted, the White House said last week that just one more Ukraine security assistance package remains to be provided this year without lawmakers' approval.
Even as the Biden administration moves in full swing with executive actions to strengthen Ukraine's defense capabilities, Republicans defeated a foreign aid Bill for Ukraine in the Senate by 51 to 49 votes in protest against the package's lack of changes to border and immigration policy.
Out of the $110 billion foreign assistance package for Ukraine, Israel and Gaza, $61 billion was earmarked for Ukraine.
Defense officials have warned that, without action from Congress, further U.S. assistance for Ukraine could be in jeopardy at a critical time as Russia's war approaches the two-year mark.
In a recent letter to lawmakers, Defense Department comptroller Michael J. McCord said the department would be obligating the remaining $1 billion in funds authorized by Congress to replace U.S. inventories of weapons provided to Ukraine by the end of this month.
The security assistance package announced Wednesday is likely the last until Congress authorizes additional funds.
The Biden administration has committed more than $44.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's invasion in February 2022.
The assistance has been provisioned through drawdowns of existing U.S. stocks and through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, the authority under which the U.S. procures capabilities from industry and partners.
The latest military aid package includes air defense munitions, other air defense system components, additional ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, anti-armor munitions, and more than 15 million rounds of ammunition to help Ukraine counter Russia's incessant attacks.
Although a coalition of more than 50 countries continues to provide critical support for Ukraine's forces, the United States remains the largest provider of arms and ammunition that helped Kyiv fight the Russian forces in the battlefront for nearly two years.
In his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this month in Washington, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said the capabilities provided by the U.S. and its allies and partners 'are making a crucial difference on the battlefield' and have helped Ukraine retake more than half of the territory seized by Russia during the ongoing war.
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