Washington Agencies
Washington
Updated Tuesday, March 12, 2024-19:31
The White House has announced a new military aid package for Ukraine of about
$300 million
, after finding unexpected savings in Pentagon contracts.
The package "meets some of Ukraine's urgent needs," but
does not replace
the approval of
new funds by the US Congress
, stressed Jake Sullivan, advisor to US President Joe Biden.
Sullivan has detailed that it will be used for artillery munitions and ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS).
"This ammunition
will keep Ukrainian guns firing for a while
, but only for a short period," Sullivan told reporters, "it is nowhere near enough to meet Ukraine's needs on the battlefield and will not prevent Ukraine from run out of ammunition," he added.
It is the
first security package
announced by the Pentagon for Ukraine
since December
, when it acknowledged that it had already exhausted replacement funds.
These funds have allowed the Pentagon to draw existing munitions, air defense systems and other weapons from its reserve inventories to ship to Ukraine.