The United States is preparing a $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine, the first to be sourced from the yet to be signed Ukraine-Israel bill, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Tuesday.
The aid package includes vehicles, Stinger air defense munitions, additional ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems, 155 millimeter artillery ammunition, TOW and Javelin anti-tank munitions and other weapons that can immediately be put to use on the battlefield, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
President Joe Biden had asked the U.S. Congress to provide $60.8 billion in aid to Ukraine, but the initiative stalled when Republicans in the House of Representatives refused to move the measure forward for months.
On Tuesday the Senate was expected to vote on four bills now passed by the House. One for Ukraine, a second with $26 billion for Israel, a third with $8.12 billion “to counter communist China” in the Indo-Pacific and a fourth that includes a potential ban on the social media app TikTok.
The Ukraine bill also calls for the transfer of ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile Systems) with a range of up to 190 miles, which Kyiv has pledged not to use inside Russia’s territory.
The $1bn is the first batch of weapons being sent that were funded by the (now passed) $61bn allocation
The Israeli $26bn number is their version of Ukraine’s $61bn
The article is poorly written. It definitely reads like Biden requested 61 billion, but only got 1b passed after it was stalled by Republicans. It even goes on to mention the 4 bills, but doesn’t clarify the grand total for Ukraine. Why not just say this is only the first package of the total amount?