US To Provide Security Package Worth $1 Billion To Ukraine

Includes long-range weapons, armoured medical transport

Washington: Ahead of the Ukrainian war, the US administration's next security assistance package for Ukraine is expected to be $1 billion, one of the largest so far, and include munitions for long-range weapons and armoured medical transport vehicles, three sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday.

According to the officials, the package to be announced as early as Monday would add to about $8.8 billion in aid the United States has given Ukraine since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24.

While speaking on the condition of anonymity, officials said that President Joe Biden had not yet signed the next weapons package. They cautioned that weapons packages can change in value and content before they are signed.

Despite that, if signed in its current form, it would be valued at $1 billion and include munitions for HIMARS, NASAMS surface-to-air missile system ammunition and as many as 50 M113 armoured medical transports.

Moreover, it seems that the new package follows a recent Pentagon decision to allow Ukrainians to receive medical treatment at a U.S. military hospital in Germany near Ramstein air base.

Last Monday, the Pentagon announced a separate security assistance package for Ukraine valued at up to $550 million, including additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).

The White House declined to comment on the package.

The new package would be funded under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), in which the president can authorize the transfer of articles and services from U.S. stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency.

HIMARS play a key role in the artillery duel between Ukraine and Russia and has been described as "grinding" with very little movement of the front line in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.