WASHINGTON, November 23. /TASS/. The US will provide Ukraine with munitions and air defense equipment as part of a new package of military assistance worth $400 million, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement on Wednesday.
The statement said the package includes "additional arms, munitions, and air defense equipment from US Department of Defense inventories."
The new package will bring the total US military assistance for Ukraine to about $19.7 billion, since the beginning of US President Joe Biden’s administration.
"The artillery ammunition, precision fires, air defense missiles, and tactical vehicles that we are providing will best serve Ukraine on the battlefield," Blinken said.
He reaffirmed that the US "will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, so it can continue to defend itself and be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table when the time comes."
Biden on Wednesday authorized up to $400 million in additional military assistance to Ukraine. According to a statement from the White House, Biden delegated to the secretary of state the authority "to direct the drawdown of up to $400 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Ukraine."
In a separate statement on Wednesday, Biden reaffirmed US commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
"This month, we remember the victims of the Holodomor. We reaffirm our steadfast commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity," he said.
Russia’s position
On February 24 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. The West subsequently imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia and stepped up shipments of weapons to Kiev, which are worth billions of dollars.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other Russian officials have repeatedly said there’s a risk the weapons supplied to Ukraine by the West could spill over to some other regions. Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov has warned that the militarization of Ukraine by the West poses a direct threat to the European and global security.