WASHINGTON, July 2. /TASS/. Two NASAMS short-to medium-range ground-based air defense systems and four counter-artillery radars will be delivered to Ukraine as part of a $820-million US military aid package, Pentagon Press Secretary Todd Breasseale said on Friday.
"This afternoon, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced $820 million in additional security assistance for Ukraine," he said in a statement.
The delivery will include two National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), four counter-artillery radars, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and up to 150,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition.
The United States has now committed approximately $7.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration, Breasseale said. This includes the military aid worth approximately $6.9 billion that has been allocated since the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since 2014, the United States has committed more than $8.8 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, the Pentagon said.
US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday Washington would provide another package of military aid to Ukraine worth over $800 million.
"The United States continues to work with its Allies and partners to provide Ukraine with capabilities to meet its evolving battlefield requirements," Breasseale said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Xinhua news agency on April 30 that the NATO countries were doing their utmost in attempts to prevent the completion of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine through political agreements. Lavrov stressed that various weapons were being sent to Ukraine in an incessant flow under the pretext of "fighting an invasion", but in reality, the US and the EU intend to fight against Russia "to the last Ukrainian," while staying absolutely indifferent to the fate of Ukraine as an independent actor in international relations.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has warned that the West’s efforts to militarize Ukraine were a direct threat to European and global security. Moscow is calling on the sponsors of the Kiev regime to stop promoting bloodshed and think about the consequences of their actions, the diplomat said.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a special military operation following a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow's plans did not include an occupation of Ukrainian territories, its goals being the demilitarization and denazification of the country. In response, the West began to gradually introduce sweeping sanctions against Moscow and to supply weapons and military equipment to Kiev estimated at billions of dollars.