The Biden administration announced a $988 million aid package to Ukraine on Saturday to ensure it “has the tools it needs to prevail in its fight against Russian aggression.”
“This administration has made its decision. And so has a bipartisan coalition in Congress. The next administration must make its own decision,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California. . “But, from this library, from this podium, I am sure that President Reagan would have taken the side of Ukraine, of American security and of human freedom.”
The aid package is provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and will “provide Ukraine with ammunition for rocket systems and unmanned aerial systems,” according to a statement from the administration. “This package also includes support for maintenance and repair programs to help Ukraine reconstitute its forces and build and sustain combat power.”
The announcement came as President-elect Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a ceremony commemorating the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday after a devastating fire there in 2019.
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The Biden administration announced a $988 million aid package to Ukraine on Saturday to ensure it “has the tools it needs to prevail in its fight against Russian aggression.” (Andrew Cabalero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
During the campaign, Trump and his running mate JD Vance sharply criticized the Biden administration's support for Ukraine after the 2022 Russian invasion, and Trump said he would end the war before even taking office without offering further details.
Vance also suggested earlier this year that the best way to end the war was for Ukraine to cede lands that Russia had seized and establish a demilitarized zone, a proposal that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flatly rejected.
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French President Emmanuel Macron (center) poses with President-elect Donald Trump (left) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Elysee Palace in Paris on Saturday. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Recently, Zelenskyy has said he is more open to negotiations in the war and has called for Ukraine to be allowed to join NATO.
The Biden administration has pledged to provide Ukraine with as much aid as possible before Trump takes office in January.
“In September, the president announced an increase in security assistance to Ukraine to put Ukrainian forces in the strongest position possible before he leaves office,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement Monday to the announce $725 million in aid to Ukraine.
Secretary Lloyd Austin (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“From now until mid-January, we will send hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of additional rockets and other critical capabilities to help Ukraine defend its freedom and independence.”
Last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said: “President Biden is committed to ensuring that every dollar we have at our disposal goes out the door between now and January 20.”
Saturday's announcement marks the administration's 22nd aid package through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
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This week, House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected an administration request for Congress to authorize $24 billion in additional funding.
“It's not up to Joe Biden to make that decision now,” Johnson said. “We have a newly elected president, and we're going to wait and follow the instructions of the new commander in chief on all of that. So I don't expect any funding to come to Ukraine now.”
