Joe Biden commits another $800 million in military aid to Ukraine | International

The United States has decided to redouble military aid to Ukraine by sending heavy artillery, Howitzer cannons, 144,000 rounds of ammunition, drones and 72 tactical vehicles, among other types of weapons, to help the country resist the bloody invasion by Russia. The new item, which amounts to 800 million dollars (738 million euros), adds to the around 2,600 million in weapons allocated so far by the Joe Biden Administration. The president warned this Thursday, when announcing the new package, that he will have to request authorization from Congress for new remittances of support next week, since the 13.6 billion approved in March for weapons and humanitarian aid are “almost exhausted.”

“We are at a critical point in the war where [Rusia] he is going to try to lay the groundwork for the next phase of the offensive,” Biden explained from the White House. “Putin hopes that we lose interest [en el conflicto]that the unity of the West breaks down, but we are going to show him again that he is wrong”, he stressed.

The announcement takes place almost two months after the start of the war. The Ukrainian response to the attack launched by Moscow has led the Kremlin to withdraw and focus its offensive above all on the eastern front. The passage of the Russian Army through the country has left a trail of dead civilians and raped women and girls. The president of the United States, who accuses Vladimir Putin of war crimes, said Thursday that the attacks may now be more geographically limited, but that they will not lessen their “brutality.”

Apart from the weapons, the president also announced that he would send another item of 500 million dollars in direct aid to the Ukrainian government, which is suffering a colossal crisis. The country’s economy will sink by about 35% this year, according to forecasts by the International Monetary Fund. He also assured that he would implement a plan to expedite the arrival of Ukrainian refugees and the prohibition of any Russian-flagged ship from docking on the coasts or ports of the United States, in line with what has already been decided by the European allies.

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