US is sending $375 million in military aid to Ukraine and will announce billions more

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration said Wednesday that the U.S. will send Ukraine an undisclosed number of medium-range cluster bombs and an array of rockets, artillery and armored vehicles in a military aid package totaling about $375 million; a U.S. official also said billions more in assistance over the coming months would be announced Thursday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the $375 million package as global leaders met at the U.N. General Assembly this week and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy used his appearance there to rally support. Zelenskyy will meet with President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in Washington on Thursday to continue his push to get them to allow his troops to use long-range weapon s to strike deeper into Russia.

The package announced by Blinken includes air-to-ground bombs, which have cluster munitions and can be fired by Ukraine’s fighter jets, as well as munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), Javelin and other anti-armor systems, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, bridging systems and other vehicles and military equipment.

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“The United States is committed to Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s brutal aggression,” Blinken said in a statement. “We will deploy this new assistance as quickly as possible to help Ukraine protect its territory and its people.”

The latest package of weapons, provided through presidential drawdown authority, is one of the largest approved recently and will take stocks from Pentagon shelves to deliver the weapons more quickly to Ukraine.

It comes as nearly $6 billion in funding for aid to Ukraine could expire at the end of the month unless Congress acts to extend the Pentagon’s authority to send weapons from its stockpiles to Kyiv.

A U.S. official said, however, that the Biden administration is expected to notify Congress on Thursday of its intent to spend the remaining amount of money under presidential drawdown authority contained in the supplemental budget for Ukraine after the current fiscal year that ends Sept. 30.

That amount, $5.5 billion, must either be used or notified to Congress by Sept. 30 or be lost and returned to the Treasury.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the expected move, said lawmakers would be told that the administration will spend the money in multiple aid packages that will be announced after Oct. 1, in the next budget year.

Ukrainian and Russian forces are battling in the east, including hand-to-hand combat in the Kharkiv border region where Ukraine has driven Russia out of a huge processing plant in the town of Vovchansk that had been occupied for four months, officials said Tuesday. At the same time, Ukrainian troops continue to hold ground in Russia’s Kursk region after a daring incursion there last month.

The aid announcement also came on the heels of Zelenskyy’s highly guarded visit on Sunday to a Pennsylvania ammunition factory to thank the workers who are producing 155 mm shells, one of the most critically needed munitions for his country’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces.

Including this latest package, the United States has provided more than $56.2 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russian forces invaded in February 2022.

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Lee reported from New York.