What Biden is giving Ukraine in Washington's new $425 million dollar aid package

On October 16th, President Joe Biden announced a new $425 million dollar military aid package for Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later thanked Biden and said that the package would include long-range weapons. 

Biden and Zelensky spoke by phone on October 16th after the President was forced to cancel his upcoming foreign trips to manage the fallout of repeated hurricanes that destroyed parts of the United States according to The Kyiv Independent. 

The Hill reported that during their call, Biden and Zelensky talked about the continued defense of Ukraine and a new military aid package the White House later said would “provide Ukraine additional capabilities to meet its most urgent needs.”

“President Zelensky updated President Biden on his plan to achieve victory over Russia, and the two leaders tasked their teams to engage in further consultations on next steps,” a White House readout explained about the call. 

The White House also revealed Ukraine’s new security assistance would include additional air defense capabilities as well as air-to-ground munitions, more armored vehicles, and critical munitions that Kyiv needed to continue the defense of Ukraine. 

“In the coming months, the United States will provide Ukraine with a range of additional capabilities,” the White House readout added, noting the Biden administration would be sending “hundreds of air defense interceptors.”

Other military assistance teased by the White House included “tactical air defense systems as well as “significant quantities of ammunition, hundreds of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, and thousands of additional armored vehicles, all of which will help to equip Ukraine’s armed forces.”

Zelensky later thanked Biden for the new military package on X and revealed that the assistance from the United States would include long-range weapons, something Washington has been reluctant to approve the use of on Russian territory. 

The ability to use long-range weapons on targets inside of Russian territory is a key part of Ukraine’s new Victory Plan, which Zelensky presented to Biden during a closed-door September meeting with the President according to The Kyiv Independent. 

The details of Ukraine’s Victory plan were later made public on October 16th. According to a statement published by the Zelensky office, point two of the five-point plans does include the lifting of restrictions on Ukraine's ability to use long-range missiles.  

“President Biden’s leadership in uniting the world and America’s strong bipartisan support have been crucial in helping Ukraine stand firm and defend our independence,” Zelensky wrote. 

“I am grateful to President Biden, both parties in Congress, and the American people for the $425 million defense package announced today, which includes new air defense systems and long-range weapons,” Zelensky added. 

A detailed list of what the Biden administration included in Ukraine’s new $425 million military aid package was published by the U.S. Department of Defense. Among the help being sent is more air defense munitions, including Rim-7 missiles. 

Photo Credit: Wiki Commons By 玄史生 - Own work, CC0

Ukraine will also receive more Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, HIMARS ammunition, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided missiles, and Javelin anti-tank missiles. 

More small arms and ammunition as well as grenades, thermal systems, and training equipment are also being donated to Ukraine alongside demolition equipment and ancillary support equipment like spare parts, troops training, and multipurpose vehicles. 

“This announcement is the Biden Administration's sixty-seventh tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021,” the Defense Department statement noted about the new aid package. 

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