On August 9, the US stated that it will be providing Ukraine with $125 million in military aid.
“We will deploy this new assistance as quickly as possible to bolster Ukraine’s defense of its territory and its people. As President [Joe] Biden has made clear, the United States and the international coalition we have assembled will continue to stand with Ukraine,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement.
Multi-mission radars, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, javelin systems, ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), small arms ammunition, ambulances with high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWV), Stinger missiles, demolition tools, and ammunition are among the items included in the package, according to the Pentagon.
According to the State Department, this is the tenth installment of aid that Ukraine has received since Congress approved a $60.8 billion measure in April to give Kyiv further support. According to the Pentagon, this aid delivery is the 63rd since August 2021.
The State Department reports that the United States has provided the nation in Eastern Europe with more than $55 billion in military aid.
The declaration is being made while Russia is making sluggish headway in the eastern Ukrainian territory of Donetsk and as Ukraine has invaded the western Russian city of Kursk.
According to Myhailo Podolyak, the top advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia would "start to realize that the war is slowly creeping inside of Russian territory" on August 8.
“When will it be possible to conduct a negotiation process in the way that we can push them or get something from them?” he asked. “Only when the war is not going on according to their scenarios.”
In a call with reporters on Aug. 9, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby sidestepped the question of whether the United States is fine with this incursion.
“We’re in touch with our Ukrainian counterparts, and we are working to gain a better understanding of what they’re doing, what their goals are, what their strategy is,” he said. “And I’m going to leave a little bit of space for us to have those conversations before I try to characterize what’s going on.”
Kirby went on to say that US policy on Ukraine's use of US weapons has not changed. The places from which Ukraine can launch an American-made weaponry strike within Russia are restricted by this strategy.
“The ability to be able to fire back when fired upon is really what this policy is focused on… as we see Russian forces firing across the border, the ability for Ukraine to fire back at those ground forces using U.S.-provided munitions,” Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in June.
“This is not about geography. It’s about common sense,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told PBS. “If Russia is attacking or about to attack from its territory into Ukraine, it only makes sense to allow Ukraine to hit back against the forces that are hitting it from across the border.”
After all, he said, “It’s self-defense and so it makes sense for them to be able to do that.”
The additional support also arrives soon after F-16s built in the United States, courtesy of Denmark and Holland, landed in Ukraine.
While Zelenskyy expressed appreciation for the fighter jets, he said, “the number that is available in Ukraine and the number of pilots who have already been trained is not enough.”
