The United States is readying more than $2 billion worth of military aid for Ukraine that is expected to include longer-range rockets for the first time as well as other munitions and weapons, two US officials briefed on the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
Ukrainian servicemen adjust a mortar tube at the battlefront in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, January 31, 2023. /CFP
The aid is expected to be announced as soon as this week, the officials said. It is also expected to include support equipment for Patriot air defense systems, precision-guided munitions and Javelin anti-tank weapons, they added.
One of the officials said a portion of the package, expected to be $1.725 billion, would come from a fund known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows President Joe Biden's administration to get weapons from industry rather than from US weapons stocks.
The White House declined to comment. The contents and size of aid packages can shift until they are signed by the president.
The US has sent approximately $27.2 billion worth of security assistance to Ukraine since Russia-Ukraine conflict began in February 2022.
