Biden announces $800M in new military assistance for Ukraine
Source: AP
President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Thursday, April 21, 2022, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday announced an additional $800 million in military aid to help Ukraine fight back against the Russian invasion, and he warned that Congress will need to approve additional assistance. The new military package includes much needed heavy artillery, 144,000 rounds of ammunition, and drones for Ukrainian forces in the escalating battle for the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. It builds on roughly $2.6 billion in military assistance that Biden had previously approved.
He also announced that all Russian-affiliated ships would be barred from U.S. ports. Biden said that $13.6 billion approved last month by Congress for military and humanitarian assistance was “almost exhausted.” “Next week, I’m going to have to be sending to Congress a supplemental budget request to keep weapons and ammunition deployed without interruption,” Biden said. Congress has signaled it is receptive to further requests and has been expecting there would be a need for further help for the Ukrainians.
Biden did not detail how much additional funding he would request. Biden spoke on the new assistance, and more broadly about the situation in Ukraine, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed victory in the strategic city of Mariupol. Putin, however, ordered his troops not to risk more losses by storming the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the war’s iconic battleground. Earlier this week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said his country will send heavy artillery to Ukraine.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the Netherlands will send more heavy weapons, including armored vehicles. The new tranche of military assistance is expected to include 72 155mm howitzers, 144,000 artillery rounds, 72 vehicles used to tow to the howitzers onto the battlefield, and over 121 Phoenix Ghost tactical drones, as well as field equipment and spare parts. The 72 howitzers are in addition to the 18 announced last week the U.S. was transferring to Ukraine.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-zelenskyy-biden-mark-rutte-justin-trudeau-e78a7db76215a84f86586bb56122cd04
Original article -
President Joe Biden on Thursday announced an additional $800 million in military aid to help Ukraine fight back against the Russian invasion, but he also warned Congress will need to approve additional assistance.
The new military assistance package includes much needed heavy artillery, 144,000 rounds of ammunition, and drones for Ukrainian forces in the escalating battle for the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. It builds on roughly $2.6 billion in military assistance that Biden had previously approved for Ukraine.
He said that $13.6 billion approved last month by Congress for military and humanitarian assistance was “almost exhausted.”
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.
= new reply since forum marked as read
after Putin test of ballistic nuke missile and tough talk. 'Walk softly but carry a big javelin' 
love it Mr President!
