The US is preparing a $400 million military aid package for Ukraine

WASHINGTON: The United States is preparing a $400 million military aid package for Ukraine as it returns to a normal pace of arms deliveries to Kiev after lawmakers passed a $95 billion bill, the White House said Friday.

The aid package for Ukraine includes artillery, ammunition for NASAMS air defense, anti-tank ammunition, armored vehicles and small arms that can be used immediately on the battlefield, a US official told Reuters.

The arms assistance will use the Presidential Drawdown Authority, or PDA, which authorizes the president to transfer items and services from U.S. stocks during an emergency without specific authorization from Congress. As part of the $95 billion relief bills, Congress approved $60.8 billion in various forms of aid to Ukraine, including $8 billion in PDA items.

The aid announcement came after Russian forces launched an armored ground assault near Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv in the country’s northeast on Friday, making minor progress, opening a new front in a long-running war in the east and south is fed.

The United States has been working around the clock to give Ukraine what it needs to defend itself as Russia’s offensive has intensified, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Friday.

It is possible that Russia could make further progress in the coming weeks, but the United States does not expect any major breakthroughs, Kirby told reporters.

As replenishment funds for stockpiled items are deployed, U.S. defense companies would win more contracts as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues. The relief package was first reported by Politico.

Experts expect an increase in the order book of RTX (formerly Raytheon Technologies Corporation), along with other major companies that receive government contracts, such as Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Northrop Grumman, after the passage of the supplemental spending law.

(REUTERS)