United States preparing new military aid package worth $425M for Ukraine – Reuters

On Friday, the Biden administration is planning to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine, totaling $425 million.

The relevant statement was made by Reuters, referring to two U.S. officials, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The package is not expected to include additional ATACMS missiles. Instead, the planned aid package for Ukraine contains about $300 million worth of laser-guided munitions to shoot down Russian drones, according to a document seen by Reuters and one of the officials.

The funds for those munitions come from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) program, which allows the Biden administration to buy weapons from industry rather than pull from U.S. weapons stocks.

The remainder of the $125 million worth of weapons pledges include additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) air defenses, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 105 and 155 millimeter artillery, TOW anti-tank weapons, Claymore anti-personnel mines, small arms, and a dozen trucks, according to the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Reuters mentioned that those weapons pledges were made possible by utilizing Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which authorizes Biden to transfer articles and services from U.S. stocks without congressional approval during an emergency.

Meanwhile, the package was still being finalized and could change, the officials added.