The United States will send another $675 million in assistance to Ukraine amid Russia's war, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced Thursday.
"Yesterday, President Biden approved the latest tranche of U.S. assistance to Ukraine, valued at up to $675 million, and this is the Biden administration's 20th drawdown of equipment from U.S. stocks for Ukraine since last August," Austin told reporters at the U.S. military's Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he attended a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
"The latest package includes more GMLRS, 105 millimeter howitzers, artillery ammunition and HARMs, Humvees, armored ambulances, anti-tank systems, small arms and more," he added.
From right, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, U.S. Gen. Mark Milley and German Defense Minister Christine Lamprecht attend a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the U.S. military's Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany, on Sept. 8, 2022. The Ukraine Defense Contact Group is a U.S.-led effort to bring together defense leaders from dozens of countries across the globe in order to facilitate military support for Ukraine in its ongoing efforts in fighting Russia's military invasion.
The Ukraine Defence Contact Group is a U.S.-led effort to bring together defense leaders from dozens of countries around the world in order to facilitate military support for Ukraine in its ongoing efforts to fight the Russian invasion. Austin said Thursday that the group was meeting to "renew our commitment and intensify our momentum to support the brave defenders of Ukraine for the long term."
"Today, four months after our initial Contact Group meeting, the war is at another key moment. Russian forces continue to cruelly bombard Ukrainian cities and civilians with missiles and artillery fire," he said. "But Ukrainian forces have begun their counteroffensive in the south of their country."
"This Contact Group needs to position itself to sustain Ukraine's brave defenders for the long haul," he added. "And that means a continued and determined flow of capability now."
