US pledges $8-bn military aid to Ukraine
US President Joe Biden announced more than $8 billion in military assistance for Ukraine on Thursday to help Kyiv ‘win this war’ against Russian invaders, using a visit by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to make a major commitment.
The aid includes the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb called the Joint Standoff Weapon, with a range of up to 81 miles (130 km). The medium-range missile gives Ukraine a major upgrade to the weapons it is using to strike Russian forces, allowing the Ukrainians to do it at safer distances.
The bomb, capable of striking targets with high accuracy, is to be dropped from fighter jets. Biden will not announce that Washington would let Ukraine use U.S. missiles to hit targets deeper in Russia, a U.S. official said.
Supporting Ukraine, which Russia invaded in February 2022, has been a U.S. top priority, Biden said in a statement.
“That is why, today, I am announcing a surge in security assistance for Ukraine and a series of additional actions to help Ukraine win this war,” said Biden, who leaves office in January. The bulk of the new aid, $5.5 billion, is to be allocated before Monday’s end of the US fiscal year.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said that changes to Russia’s nuclear weapons doctrine outlined by President Vladimir Putin should be considered a signal to Western countries that there will be consequences if they participate in attacks on Russia.
Putin said on Wednesday that Russia could use nuclear weapons if it was struck with conventional missiles, and that Moscow would consider any assault on it supported by a nuclear power to be a joint attack.
