US to provide significant military aid package to Ukraine
The United States will announce a large military aid package for Ukraine at the Ramstein meeting on Jan. 9, but some funds will remain unspent until the end of the Biden administration, according to journalist Ostap Yarysh of Voice of America.
The new aid package will be provided under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), meaning the weapons will be sent from U.S. stockpiles.
“Now there is still $4.3 billion left,” Yarysh said on Facebook, citing a source in the Pentagon.
“In the end, ‘more than a couple of billion’ will remain unused. The exact amount (and the size of the next weapons package) is not disclosed, but it can be roughly estimated.”
After the inauguration of the newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump on Jan. 20, the remaining funds will be transferred to the new administration, which will decide how to allocate them, he added.
The Pentagon also stated that most of the previously announced aid under the PDA program will arrive in Ukraine by the end of the month. Weapons that Washington has ordered for Ukraine from manufacturers under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) are planned to be delivered throughout 2025 and early 2026.
The Associated Press previously reported that the Biden administration is preparing to announce a comprehensive and final military aid package for Ukraine during Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to Germany for the Ramstein meeting on Jan. 9.
