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The Biden administration announced an additional $500 million on Thursday military aid to Ukraine rushed out the door in a security package before President-elect Trump takes office.
Defense Minister Lloyd Austin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the last time at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he made the announcement. Both officials used the opportunity to urge the incoming Trump administration to continue supporting Kiev’s fight against Russia.
“If Putin swallows Ukraine, his appetite will only grow,” Austin warned at the 25th meeting of about 50 member states that have joined forces to back Ukraine with an estimated $122 billion in arms and aid.
“If autocrats decide that democracies will lose their tempers, renounce their interests and forget their principles, we will only see more land grabbing. If tyrants learn that aggression pays, we will only invite more aggression, chaos and war.”
From left: German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attend a meeting of the Ukrainian Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)
The latest U.S. security assistance to Ukraine includes fighter jet missiles, F-16 support equipment, armored bridge systems, small arms and ammunition, and other spare parts and communications equipment.
The weapons package is funded by the Presidential Appropriations Administration (PDA), meaning the weapons will come from US stockpiles, speeding up their delivery to Ukraine.
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Austin announced a new $500 million security package for Ukraine. (Marijan Murat/dpa via AP)
Officials noted that this is the seventy-fourth tranche of equipment from the Biden administration to be shipped from Ministry of Defense stock for Ukraine from August 2021.
This latest package leaves about $3.85 billion in funding for future arms deliveries to Ukraine; if no further announcements are made by the Biden administration, that balance will be available for Trump to send if he so chooses.
Zelensky pleaded with the next administration to continue US support for his country’s defensive war against Russian invaders.
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The ruins of the city of Toretsk are located in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on December 19, 2024. (Photo by Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“We have come such a long way that it would honestly be crazy to drop the ball now and not continue to build the defense coalitions that we have created,” Zelenskyy said. “No matter what’s going on in the world, everyone wants to make sure their country doesn’t just get wiped off the map.”
Member states of the pro-Kiev coalition, including the US, have ramped up arms production since the war in Ukraine, which revealed that stockpiles were insufficient to a major conventional land war.
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The US has secured about $66 billion in total aid as of February 2022 and has already managed to deliver most of that total — between 80% and 90% — to Ukraine.
“Withdrawal will only provide incentives for more imperial aggression,” Austin said Thursday. “And if we flinch, you can count on Putin to push further and hit harder. Ukraine’s survival is at stake. But so is the security of Europe, the United States and the world.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
