It is the first security assistance package from the Pentagon to Ukraine since December when it acknowledged running out of funds to replenish its arsenals.
The Pentagon will urgently provide around $300 million in arms to Ukraine after finding some savings in its contracts, although U.S. forces publicly acknowledged they are in dire need and require at least $10 billion to replace the weapons taken from their arsenals to aid Kyiv in its defense against the Russian invasion.
It is the first security assistance package from the Pentagon to Ukraine since December when it acknowledged running out of funds to replenish its arsenals. It was only in recent days that authorities publicly acknowledged not only running out of funds to replenish the weapons but also carrying a $10 billion deficit.
Replenishment funds have allowed the Pentagon to take ammunition, anti-aircraft defense systems, and other weapons from its reserves under a presidential directive to send them to Ukraine and then make contracts to replace them.
One of the defense officials briefing the press said the package constituted a “one-time shipment” unless Congress approves a stalled spending bill representing around $60 billion in military aid to Ukraine or other cost-saving measures are found. It would likely include anti-aircraft missiles, artillery shells, and armored systems, the official said.
Meanwhile, members of the Polish government are in Washington to urge the United States to overcome its impasse on sending weapons to Ukraine at a crucial moment in the war.
President Andrzej Duda met Tuesday with Democratic and Republican leaders from both chambers and was scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden in the coming hours.
