The White House warns that Russia will “not prevail” after announcing a $125 million aid package to strengthen Ukraine’s air defenses.
Following a phone call between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US President Joe Biden, the United States announced a new round of military aid to Ukraine.
The Pentagon announced Friday that the latest aid package would be worth $125 million, and Biden said it would include anti-aircraft munitions, ammunition and anti-tank missiles.
“Russia will not prevail in this conflict. The independent people of Ukraine will prevail – and the United States, our allies, and our partners will continue to stand with them every step of the way,” Biden said in a statement.
The United States has provided tens of billions of dollars worth of military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In the years that followed, Ukrainian forces struggled to expel Russian troops, suffering from shortages of essential supplies and with no end to the conflict in sight.
I spoke with @POTUS Joe Biden and thanked him for his warm congratulations on the Day of the National Flag of Ukraine and the upcoming Independence Day.
The Ukrainian people are grateful to President Biden, his administration, Congress, and the entire American people for their unwavering…
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володиmir Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) 23 August 2024
“Ukraine urgently needs the delivery of weapons from the announced packages, in particular additional air defense systems for the reliable protection of cities, towns and critical infrastructure,” Zelensky said in a statement posted on social media.
He thanked Biden for “unwavering support since the first days of the all-out war.”
The latest round of aid comes at a time when Ukrainian forces are still embroiled in fighting inside Russia more than two weeks after their daring border crossing into Russia’s Kursk province.
The presence of Ukrainian troops on Russian territory has become an embarrassing setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who accused countries like the United States of enabling the Ukrainian attacks by supplying them with long-range weapons.
Ukrainian Air Force Commander Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshuk released a video on Thursday that he said shows Ukraine attacking a Russian train base in Kursk with US-supplied GBU-39 bombs.
Some analysts have expressed concern that Ukrainian attacks on Russian soil could increase the likelihood of an escalation of the conflict. The US, however, insists that it is not coordinating such operations with Ukraine, but is instead supplying it with weapons to defend itself against the Russian invasion.
Earlier on Friday, the US government’s Treasury, State and Commerce departments announced further economic sanctions against Russia aimed at limiting the country’s ability to circumvent previous restrictions.
Critics say U.S. sanctions have made life more difficult for the Russian people without stopping the government from waging war in Ukraine.
