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US military aid package for Ukraine to include lethal weapons, says official

A new $60 million security assistance package for Ukraine will include additional Javelin anti-armor systems and other defensive lethal and non-lethal capabilities

Javelin anti-armor system Lance Cpl. Sarah Petrock/Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons

Javelin anti-armor system

© Lance Cpl. Sarah Petrock/Public Domain/Wikimedia Commons

WASHINGTON, September 1. /TASS/. A new American $60 million military aid package for Ukraine will include lethal weapons, a senior US administration official told a press briefing on the upcoming meeting between US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky who is on a visit to the United States.

"President Biden will announce his approval for a new $60 million security assistance package for Ukraine," she said.

"That will include additional Javelin anti-armor systems and other defensive lethal and non-lethal capabilities," the senior US administration official added.

Biden and Zelensky will discuss "ways in which the US can continue to provide security assistance to Ukraine," she said.

Thus far, the US has provided $2.5 billion in support of the Ukrainian forces since 2014, including more than $400 million this year alone, the senior US administration official said.

The US White House announced on August 27 in the run-up to Zelensky’s visit to Washington that US President Biden planned to provide $60 million to Ukraine in military aid through the Pentagon’s funds.

The Unites States supplies armaments to Kiev and sends instructors to train the Ukrainian army. Ukraine received $350 million in US military aid both in 2017 and 2018, $250 million in 2019 and $300 million in 2020. The country started receiving Javelin anti-tank systems after the administration of former US President Donald Trump approved the sale of lethal weapons to Kiev.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said earlier that NATO counties’ efforts to provide weapons and military equipment to Ukraine could push Kiev to try to resolve the conflict in southeastern Ukraine through military means.

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