Washington: The United States has announced that it will provide an additional $600 in weapons aid for Ukraine, deepening its involvement in the war in defiance of repeated warnings by Russia.
The Pentagon said on Thursday what it called the security assistance package for Ukraine includes demolition munitions and mine-clearing equipment as well as artillery ammunition.
The package falls under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), under which Washington procures equipment from the Pentagon or partners rather than drawing from US stocks.
The package will “support Ukraine’s battlefield needs” and demonstrates “unwavering US support for Ukraine,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
The announcement came a day after Washington pledged more than $1 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Kiev.
Washington said on Wednesday that controversial depleted uranium ammunition is part of the new security assistance package, despite global concerns about serious health problems caused by such ammunition.
Former US Congressman Ron Paul has said that President Joe Biden’s Ukraine debacle will go down as “one of the greatest foreign policy disasters in US history.”
The US promise of depleted uranium rounds came about two months after Washington said it would provide cluster munitions to Ukraine.
Kiev has already received more than $43 billion from the US in the form of weapons systems like howitzers and millions of rounds of ammunition, including widely-banned cluster munitions, since February 2022 when Russia started a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
A number of Republican presidential hopefuls have questioned the US aid to Ukraine, fuelling concerns over whether Washington will still support Kiev at the same level once the US 2024 election campaign intensifies.
Depleted uranium munitions are notorious due to their association with health problems such as cancer and birth defects in areas where they were used in past conflicts.
Russia has harshly criticized the US decision to provide the depleted uranium munitions.
But Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh tried to defend the controversial move on Thursday.
“We feel that these will be the most effective rounds to counter Russian tanks and will help… the Ukrainians to defend” their territory, Singh told journalists.
The United States says it is sending depleted uranium ammunition to Kiev, despite global concerns about serious health problems caused by such ammunition.
Despite Washington’s continued military support to Kiev since then, the Biden administration has been clear that there will be no US combat forces fighting against the Russians in Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly warned that the influx of Western weapons will only prolong the war and add to the suffering of the Ukrainian people.
Republican lawmakers have voiced concerns about the haphazard military shipments to Ukraine.
Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene said Washington’s military aid to Ukraine was a US-led “proxy war” against Russia.
She said the Ukraine war had placed a heavy financial burden on the shoulders of Americans, who were already grappling with poverty.
Agencies

KR Desk