JUST IN: Defense Department Announces Another Massive Aid Package For Ukraine

The United States has announced a new $1.2 billion aid package to Ukraine aiming to “bolster its air defenses” and “sustain its artillery ammunition needs,” according to a press release from the Department of Defense on Tuesday. The delivery is categorized under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, through which the United States contracts with defense production contractors to fulfill orders for foreign clients.

The latest package will include artillery rounds, satellite imagery equipment, additional air defense systems and munitions, and drone ammunition, as well as equipment to help “integrate Western air defense launchers, missiles, and radars” with the Ukrainian military’s old systems.

Unlike previous packages where weapons, equipment, and other important materials have been quickly delivered to Ukraine from Pentagon stocks, the latest package will be spent over the coming months and years in order to secure Ukraine’s “long-term” security needs.

The Pentagon said the aid will build the capacity of Ukraine’s military “to defend its territory and deter Russian aggression over the long term,” according to a report from the Associated Press.

NEW – US sends another $1.2 billion in weapons to Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/BYEtL4UDmh

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Including the latest package, the United States has provided roughly $37 billion in military aid since Russia invaded Ukraine last February.

DOD officials have previously stated that the U.S. is committed to funding Ukraine’s security needs for the foreseeable future. After a $3 billion aid package was approved this past August, Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, said the weapons were not intended to affect “today’s fight” but to underscore “our commitment to supporting Ukraine for the long term.”

That package was “the beginning of a contracting process to provide additional priority capabilities to Ukraine in the mid-and long-term to ensure Ukraine can continue to defend itself as an independent, sovereign and prosperous state,” Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement at the time.

In the coming days, Ukraine is expected to begin a Spring offensive aimed at retaking lost territory in the country’s East. The success of the offensive, or lack thereof, could be critical in determining the future of the conflict, experts have stated.