Biden announces $1 billion in new military aid to Ukraine

The $1.01 billion is expected to include more of the same types of military equipment that the United States says the Ukrainians need most: anti-armor and anti-air systems, including portable air defenses such as the Javelins and Stingers. The money will come from approx $13.6 billion allocated to Ukraine in the comprehensive budget bill Mr. Biden signed Tuesday. The package that Mr. Biden will announce includes more than $200 million in support sent over the weekend and about another $800 million in new funding, for a total of more than $1 billion.

While the White House is considering sending more troops to Europe to add to the approximately 15,000 deployed there since then The Russian-Ukrainian crisis Initially, US officials said Biden was not expected to deploy more troops now.

“We are moving urgently to increase support for the brave Ukrainian people as they defend their homeland,” President Biden said Tuesday, without providing additional details. “And I’ll have a lot more to say about this tomorrow about exactly what we’re doing in Ukraine.”

Senators and members of the House of Representatives from both parties have called on the administration to send as much military support to Ukraine as possible, and In his virtual address to Congress on WednesdayMr. Zelensky is expected to appeal for this support.

On Tuesday, Mr. Zelensky made Appeal to the Canadian Parliament No-fly zone, asking lawmakers to stop Russia in its attempt to “annihilate” Ukraine.

“It’s a pitiful condition but it has also allowed us to find out who our true friends have been for the past 20 days,” said Mr. Zelensky.

But Pentagon officials and others say some forms of support will not be beneficial to the Ukrainians and would risk sliding the United States into direct conflict with Russia inside Ukraine. These officials oppose the establishment of No-fly zoneSpecify that it will not stop the launch of Russian cruise missiles from inside Russia and may require US and NATO planes to shoot down Russian planes. The Pentagon also refused to support a separate proposal To supply Ukraine with Polish jet fighters across the United States, arguing that the Ukrainians are not using the combat aircraft they already have. The Pentagon also noted the logistical challenges of getting the planes into Ukraine.

The new support comes after US officials said over the weekend that Moscow reached out to Beijing after the invasion to obtain military and economic aid. China has been reluctant to distance itself from RussiaMoscow and Beijing denied that Russia had asked China for military assistance.

The United States is still in the process of sending the latest tranche of support, some $350 million in arms, to Ukraine. Defense officials said that since 2014, the United States provided $2.5 billion in military aid before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Corrections and amplifications
President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to make an appeal to Congress. An earlier version of this article incorrectly wrote the president’s first name as Volodymyr. (corrected March 16th)

write to Gordon Lubold at [email protected], Vivian Salama at [email protected] and Nancy A. Youssef at [email protected]