[special report] us officials revealed that the us will provide a new batch of military aid to ukraine
2024-09-25
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us officials revealed that the us will provide a new batch of military aid to ukraine
li yannan
several u.s. officials revealed on the 24th that the u.s. government plans to provide ukraine with a new batch of military aid worth approximately us$375 million, and will use the "presidential withdrawal authority" to directly transfer weapons and equipment from the ministry of defense inventory to ukraine to shorten delivery time.
several u.s. government officials who requested anonymity told the associated press that the new military aid plan for ukraine is expected to be officially announced on the 25th. specific equipment includes air-to-ground bombs that can be launched by ukrainian fighter jets, high mobility rocket artillery system (himars) ammunition, javelin anti-tank missiles and other anti-armor systems, mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles and other military vehicles.
according to the associated press, this is one of the largest military aids to ukraine approved by the united states in recent times, and it comes at a time when ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky is in the united states to attend the united nations general assembly. zelensky is scheduled to meet with us president joseph biden and democratic presidential candidate and vice president kamala harris on the 26th. zelensky may take this opportunity to continue to strive for the united states to allow ukraine to use foreign-aided long-range weapons to strike targets deep inside russia.
according to reuters, the 2024 fiscal year of the united states will end on the 30th of this month. according to the $95 billion foreign aid appropriations bill that became law in april this year, biden was granted $7.8 billion in "presidential drawing authority", and now there is about $6 billion left. with the "presidential drawing authority", biden can bypass congress and directly approve the transfer of military equipment from the us military inventory to aid ukraine.
people familiar with the matter said that the biden administration is negotiating with congress on how to spend the remaining amount in time to prevent it from expiring with the end of this fiscal year. one plan is to extend the "president's authority to spend" in the short-term appropriations bill, and the other is to announce a major aid measure to ukraine at one time before the end of september, using up the $6 billion and extending the delivery period of military aid accordingly.
the leaders of the democratic and republican parties in the u.s. congress announced on the 22nd that they have reached an agreement on a short-term appropriations bill to keep the federal government running until december 20th and prevent some agencies from shutting down due to lack of money before the u.s. presidential election and congressional re-election in november. the house of representatives is expected to vote on the bill this week, but it is unclear whether the bill will approve the extension of the "president's power of withdrawal."
the ukrainian army launched a large-scale offensive on russia's kursk oblast last month, and there is no sign of easing in the fighting between russia and ukraine in kursk and other fronts.
according to statistics from the associated press, since the ukrainian crisis escalated in february 2022, including the latest batch of military aid, the united states has provided more than $56.2 billion in military aid to ukraine, and the sophistication and destructive power of weapons aided to ukraine have gradually increased. (end) (xinhua news agency special report)
