Biden announces nearly $2.5 billion in military aid for Ukraine

President Joe Biden said Monday that the United States will send nearly $2.5 billion more in weapons to Ukraine as his administration works quickly to spend all the money it has available to help Kyiv fight off Russia before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

The package includes $1.25 billion in presidential drawdown authority , which allows the military to pull existing stock from its shelves and get weapons to the battlefield faster. It also has $1.22 billion in longer-term weapons packages to be put on contract through the separate Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, or USAI.

Biden said all longer-term USAI funds have now been spent and that he seeks to fully use all the remaining drawdown money before leaving office .

“I’ve directed my administration to continue surging as much assistance to Ukraine as quickly as possible,” Biden said in a statement. “At my direction, the United States will continue to work relentlessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in this war over the remainder of my time in office.”

In addition to the weapons support, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Monday that the U.S. is also providing $3.4 billion in economic assistance to Ukraine to help pay for critical government services during its ongoing fight against Russia. The money will pay salaries for civilian government and school employees, health care workers and first responders.

The new military aid comes as Russia has launched a barrage of attacks against Ukraine’s power facilities in recent days, although Ukraine has said it intercepted a significant number of the missiles and drones. Russian and Ukrainian forces are also still in a bitter battle around the Russian border region of Kursk , where Moscow has sent thousands of North Korean troops to help reclaim territory taken by Ukraine.

The Biden administration is pushing to get weapons into Ukraine to give Kyiv the strongest negotiating position possible before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump has talked about getting some type of negotiated settlement between Ukraine and Russia and has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin .

Many U.S. and European leaders are concerned that Trump’s talk of a settlement might result in a poor deal for Ukraine, and they worry that he won’t provide Ukraine with all the weapons funding approved by Congress.

The weapons systems being pulled from existing stockpiles through this latest weapons package include counter-unmanned aerial systems munitions, air defense munitions, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, air-to-ground munitions, anti-armor systems, tube-launched missiles, fragmentation grenades and other items and spare parts.

Including Monday’s announcement, the U.S. has provided more than $65 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022.

Tara Copp is a Pentagon correspondent for the Associated Press. She was previously Pentagon bureau chief for Sightline Media Group.

美国总统乔·拜登周一表示，美国将向乌克兰增派价值近25亿美元的武器，他的政府正迅速花光所有可用资金，帮助基辅在当选总统唐纳德·特朗普就职前对抗俄罗斯。

该方案包括12.5亿美元的总统裁军授权，允许军方从仓库撤出现有库存，更快地将武器送达战场。此外，方案还包括12.2亿美元的长期武器采购，将通过单独的乌克兰安全援助计划（USAI）签订合同。

拜登表示，所有长期的美国援助资金现已全部用完，他希望在卸任前充分利用所有剩余的撤资资金。

拜登在一份声明中表示：“我已经指示我的政府继续尽快向乌克兰提供尽可能多的援助。在我的指示下，在我剩余的任期内，美国将继续不懈努力，加强乌克兰在这场战争中的地位。”

除了武器援助外，美国财政部长珍妮特·耶伦周一宣布，美国还将向乌克兰提供34亿美元的经济援助，以帮助其支付在持续对抗俄罗斯期间的关键政府服务费用。这笔资金将用于支付政府和学校文职人员、医护人员和应急人员的工资。

俄罗斯近日对乌克兰电力设施发动了一系列袭击，尽管乌克兰方面称已拦截了大量导弹和无人机，但就在此时，乌克兰向俄罗斯提供了新的军事援助。与此同时，俄乌军队仍在库尔斯克边境地区激烈交战，莫斯科已向该地区派遣数千名朝鲜士兵，协助乌克兰收复失地。

拜登政府正努力向乌克兰输送武器，以便在特朗普1月20日就职前，让基辅在谈判中占据尽可能强的立场。特朗普曾谈到要促成乌克兰和俄罗斯之间的某种谈判解决，并赞扬了俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京。

许多美国和欧洲领导人担心，特朗普所说的和解方案可能会给乌克兰带来不利的局面，他们担心他不会向乌克兰提供国会批准的所有武器资金。

通过最新武器包从现有库存中提取的武器系统包括反无人机系统弹药、防空弹药、高机动性火箭炮系统（HIMARS）弹药、155毫米和105毫米炮弹、空对地弹药、反装甲系统、管式发射导弹、破片手榴弹以及其他物品和备件。

包括周一宣布的援助在内，自俄罗斯于 2022 年 2 月入侵乌克兰以来，美国已向乌克兰提供了超过 650 亿美元的安全援助。

塔拉·科普是美联社驻五角大楼记者。她此前曾担任Sightline媒体集团驻五角大楼分社社长。