Biden administration announces new $1.7B lethal aid package for Ukraine

(CNN) — The Biden administration announced on Monday a new lethal aid package for Ukraine totaling about $1.7 billion and largely consisting of missiles and ammunition for missile, artillery and air defense systems the US has previously provided to Ukraine.

The US is committing $1.5 billion in new weapons and equipment to Ukraine through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which will include “capabilities to augment Ukraine’s air defenses, fires, and anti-tank weapons, as well as funding to sustain equipment previously committed by the United States,” according to a Defense Department news release.

The Defense Department is also sending Ukraine up to $200 million worth of weapons and equipment directly from US Department of Defense stockpiles via Presidential Drawdown Authority, which includes “air defense interceptors; munitions for rocket systems and artillery; and anti-tank weapons,” according to the news release.

The administration says this is their 20th “USAI package and sixty-second tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine and since August 2021,” according to the release.

The USAI package includes missiles for Ukraine’s National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), a key air defense platform.

It also includes ammunition for Ukraine’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), a weapons platform that Ukraine has recently been using to strike effectively in Russian territory.

The package also includes artillery ammunition, one of Ukraine’s top requests.