Brussels (Belgium), 11/10/2023.- US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III speaks to the press after a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the end of the first day of a two-day NATO Defense Ministers Council meeting at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 11 October 2023. (Bélgica, Ucrania, Bruselas) EFE/EPA/OLIVIER MATTHYS

US approves new $200 million military package for Ukraine

Washington, Oct 11 (EFE).- The United States on Wednesday approved a new $200 million military aid package for Ukraine, which includes ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).

The Defense Department said in its statement that there are also 155- and 105-millimeter artillery rounds, AIM-9M air defense missiles, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) equipment, and precision aerial munitions.

The package also includes AT4 anti-armor weapons, small arms, and more than 16 million artillery rounds for such weapons or demolition ammunition for obstacle removal.

The Pentagon specified that this aid for Ukraine was authorized during the previous fiscal year, which ended on September 30.

Budgets for the current fiscal year are still under negotiation in the US. Still, the extension agreed to at the end of September did not provide additional assistance for Kyiv in its war against the Russian invasion. It is scheduled to be debated in a specific bill.

“The (Joe) Biden Administration calls on Congress to fulfill its commitment to the people of Ukraine by approving additional funds,” the note said.

The goal is to ensure that Ukraine continues to have what it needs “to defend itself from Russia’s brutal war of choice,” said the Pentagon, according to which security assistance for Ukraine is “a smart investment” in national security.

The announcement comes at a time when the sixteenth meeting of the coalition of countries militarily assisting Kyiv to defend itself against the Russian invasion was held in Brussels.

At the meeting, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said his country will join Denmark and the Netherlands in leading the initiative to train Ukrainian pilots and deliver F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. EFE

mgr/ar/mcd