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President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the United States will send an additional $ 1 billion in military aid to Ukraine, the largest amount of weapons and military equipment ever sent in a single shipment since the start of the war.
The aid is part of measures to stop Russia in its efforts to occupy the eastern Donbas region. Moscow is progressing slowly but steadily in the region.
Assistance includes anti-ship missile systems, howitzer heavy artillery weapons and more ammunition for high-mobility missile systems, for which US forces are already training Ukrainian troops. These new heavy weapons are what the leaders of Ukraine have urgently demanded.
President Biden also said the United States would send $ 225 million more in humanitarian aid, which would provide drinking water, medicine, food, health care, housing and money for Ukrainian families to buy essential items.
In a statement, President Biden said the United States remains committed to supporting “the people of Ukraine whose lives have been destroyed by the war.”
Earlier in the day, in a meeting in Brussels attended by a large number of defense ministers, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that Russia’s attack on Ukraine is at a critical juncture against the United States and its allies do not must lose focus on the long three-month conflict.
The meeting, along with the NATO Defense Minister, focused on arms supplies to Ukraine. This is the third time the group of nearly 50 countries has met to discuss and coordinate aid to Kiev. The previous meeting took place at Ramstein Air Base in Germany in April.
On Monday, adviser to Ukrainian President Mykhailo Podolyak said Kiev needed 1,000 heavy artillery (howitzers), 500 tanks and 1,000 drones, in addition to other heavy weapons.
“We do not have the luxury of slowing down. The risks are very great“Mr. Austin said at the beginning of the meeting in Brussels.
“We must intensify our joint commitment to Ukraine’s self-defense, and we must further strengthen ourselves to ensure that Ukraine can defend itself, its citizens and its territory.“, Added Mr. Austin.
Ahead of the meeting, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the Allies would continue to supply Ukraine with heavy artillery and long-range missile systems and that he expected them to agree on a new aid package. for Kiev, during the NATO summit held this month.
“Sometimes these efforts take time. This is exactly why it is important to have a meeting like today. To meet with representatives of Ukraine, to identify challenges and issues they would like to raise with us“, Said Mr. Stoltenberg./VOA
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