U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken authorized an additional $350 million for Ukraine as the country faces brutal attacks from neighboring Russia and Belarus.
“This package will include further lethal defensive assistance to help Ukraine address the armored, airborne, and other threats it is now facing,” Blinken wrote in a Saturday statement. “This brings the total security assistance the United States has committed to Ukraine over the past year to more than $1 billion,” the nation’s top diplomat added.
Last fall, amid a steady Russian troop buildup along Ukraine’s borders, the Pentagon authorized $60 million in immediate military assistance to Ukraine. In December, as the Russia threat materialized, Blinken authorized another package worth $200 million.
State Department spokesman Ned Price also announced Saturday that the Pentagon will immediately provide Ukraine with further defensive support, including anti-tank and air defense capabilities. On Friday, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. was determining the best way to deliver additional support to Ukraine, citing logistics issues amid the armed conflict.
“We are going to provide additional security assistance for Ukraine. We will. How that is going to be done is still being worked out,” Kirby said, adding: “The airspace over Ukraine is contested.”