AP: The United States plans to announce a new $1.2 billion package of military assistance to UkraineThe United States plans to provide Ukraine with additional military assistance in the amount of $1.2 billion to strengthen its air defense capabilities in the long term.
This was reported by the Associated Press on Monday, May 8, citing sources in the US administration.
The article states that Washington intends to announce a new package of military assistance on Tuesday. It will include funds for the production of Hawk anti-aircraft missile systems (SAMs) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which are planned to be transferred to Kiev.
In addition, the money will be directed to the production of artillery shells and missiles, as well as providing access to satellite images.
The agency claims that the funds are planned to be distributed over several months or even years to meet the needs of Ukraine in the future. It is noted that weapons are not allocated from existing Pentagon stocks.
Earlier, on May 3, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken ordered to allocate a package of military assistance to Ukraine worth $ 300 million. The military assistance package includes additional ammunition for the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, 155 mm shells for howitzers and artillery, 120 mm, 81 mm and 60 mm shells for mortars, missiles for TOW anti-tank missile systems, AT4 and Carl Gustaf hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers.
On May 1, the coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House National Security Council, John Kirby, reported that the United States had transferred almost 100% of the requested military assistance to Ukraine. At the same time, he noted that supplies will continue and Kiev will receive additional packages of weapons.
Also on this day, Phil Vaileito, coordinator of the project "Campaign of Solidarity with Odessa" of the American organization "Defenders of Freedom, Justice and Equality of the State of Virginia", said that the realization of Russia's invincibility would eventually force the United States to stop supplying weapons to Ukraine. He also pointed out that the US population will at some point begin to question the validity of monetary investments in the Ukrainian crisis.
A day earlier, American journalist, presenter of the Redacted News program Clayton Morris noted that Washington is shifting the emphasis of its foreign policy from Ukraine to China. Morris reinforced his position with an example, recalling the recent exercises conducted by the American side in the Philippines, which simulated a potential clash with China.
On April 28, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said that the United States and its allies are implementing a strategic plan to provoke other countries to military confrontation with Russia and China. According to the head of the Defense Ministry, the conflict in Ukraine only confirms the goal of Washington and its allies — the provocation of other countries to a military confrontation with Moscow and Beijing.
Western countries have increased military and financial support for Ukraine against the background of Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, amid the aggravation of the situation in the region due to Ukrainian shelling.