Name: US Defense Secretary Unveils $400 Million Arms Package in Surprise Ukraine Visit
Uploaded: 2024-10-22T04:37:46.000Z
Description: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced a new $400 million arms package for Ukraine during a surprise visit to Kyiv on Oct. 21.

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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced a new $400 million arms package for Ukraine during a surprise visit to Kyiv on Oct. 21.

The package includes 155mm and 105mm artillery shells, ammunition for U.S.-donated M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) launchers, and additional Javelin anti-tank missile launcher systems.

This latest aid comes less than a week after President Joe Biden announced a <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/biden-announces-425-million-arms-package-for-ukraine-in-call-with-zelenskyy-5742407">$425 million package</a> providing new air defense systems and ammunition, combat vehicles, and other munitions.

The surprise visit is Austin's fourth time traveling to Ukraine as the secretary of defense. He visited Belgium last week and met with members of other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) nations to discuss continuing support for Ukraine in its ongoing war with Russia.

Russian forces continue to make slow territorial gains across eastern Ukraine, and as Ukraine braces for another winter at war. Russian forces have intensified attacks on Ukraine's energy grid ahead of the winter months in an apparent effort to cripple the Ukrainian public's will to fight.
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"The United States understands the stakes here, Mr. President," Austin told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting on Monday as he announced the new military package.

Austin's appearance in Kyiv also comes just two weeks before Election Day in the United States, with uncertainty about continued U.S. support for Ukraine's war effort. The United States has already appropriated about $174 billion to Ukraine since 2022, making it Ukraine's largest financial backer throughout the war.

Vice President Kamala Harris has signaled continuity with President Joe Biden's policies if she wins the presidency in November. Former President Donald Trump, by contrast, has signaled skepticism of continued U.S. aid for Ukraine and a preference to speed along negotiations to end the war if he wins back the White House.

Austin signaled optimism for continued U.S. support for Ukraine during his Monday visit.

"I've seen bipartisan support for Ukraine over the last two and a half years, and I fully expect that we'll continue to see the bipartisan support from Congress," he said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently began circulating what he's called a "victory plan," to compel Russia to negotiate on friendlier terms for Ukraine.

The plan entails continued Western support for Ukraine, including increased deliveries of long-range weapons and permission to use them to strike deep inside Russian territory. Thus far, Biden has been reluctant to permit expansive Ukrainian strikes within Russia.

In an Oct. 20 <a href="https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/za-cej-tizhden-u-nas-ye-pidtrimka-vid-partneriv-za-planom-pe-93949">address</a>, Zelenskyy thanked France, Lithuania, and "our Nordic partners" for supporting his victory plan. Broader buy-in for the victory plan remains unclear, but Zelenskyy said he had received "very positive signals" from the United States.

Speaking with NATO partners in Brussels on Oct. 18, Austin <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3940112/secretary-of-defense-lloyd-j-austin-iii-holds-a-press-conference/">said</a>, "It's not my position to evaluate publicly his plan."

"We have been supporting him by providing security assistance in a major way for over two and a half years. We're going to continue to do that," Austin added.

The grinding war has stretched Ukrainian forces thin. A Ukrainian cross-border assault into Russia's Kursk region in August appeared aimed at forcing Russian forces to divert resources away from eastern Ukraine.

But Russian forces have <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/russia-has-made-key-gains-in-donbas-what-does-it-mean-for-the-war-5735332">continued to advance</a> in Ukraine's Donbas region and have gradually <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/russia-retakes-2-villages-in-contested-kursk-region-5727032">clawed back control</a> of much of the Kursk region over the past two months.

<em>Reuters contributed to this article.</em>

<em>From <a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/world/us-defense-secretary-unveils-400-million-arms-package-in-surprise-ukraine-visit-5745026">The Epoch Times</a></em>

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