The US will send half a billion dollars in military aid to Ukraine ahead of US president-elect, Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the country’s top diplomat has announced.
Speaking during the 25th and possibly final meeting of Ukraine’s western backers at the Ramstein air base in Germany, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Washington would supply one more trove of military support.
The $500m (£406m) package includes air defence missiles, air-to-ground munitions and support equipment for F-16 fighter jets. The US has sent roughly £50 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion nearly three years ago.
The announcement, however, suggests that the remaining $3.8bn of the funds set aside for Ukraine by the Joe Biden administration will remain unused ahead of Mr Trump’s return, despite previous commitments to use all the money.
Meanwhile, Russia launched dozens of glide bombs across Ukraine over the last 24 hours, Ukraine’s military reported in its latest update, as the casualty toll from an attack on civilian-populated Zaporizhzhia reached 126.
The Ukrainian general staff said Russia had launched 62 glide bomb attacks on Wednesday. The munitions, nicknamed “building-destroyers,” can carry warheads weighing up to 3 tonnes and blow holes deeper than bomb shelters.
Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Defence Secretary, Lloyd Austin used their final meeting in Germany to press the incoming Trump administration to not give up on Kyiv’s fight, warning that to cease military support now “will only invite more aggression, chaos and war.”
