INTERNATIONAL: President Joe Bidenhas announced an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine on Wednesday,March 16, even as his position on a no-fly zone did not change after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's urgent appeal to the U.S. Congress for military help to fend off a Russian invasion.
Addressing Zelenskiy's remarks in his speech, Biden has said the United States has offered Ukraine $1 billion in security aid, adding America will continue to give Ukraine weapons to fight and defend themselves, offer humanitarian relief and support Ukraine's economy with additional financial assistance.
The new package on its own is going to provide unprecedented assistance to Ukraine, and includes 800 anti-aircraft systems to stop Russian planes and helicopters attacking Ukrainians.
At Zelenskiy's request, Washington will help Ukraine acquire additional long-range missile anti-aircraft systems. It will also supply 9,000 anti-armor systems, drones and 7,000 small arms such as machine guns, shotguns and grenade launchers that will help civilians fighting to defend their country.
U.S. President Joe Biden has said ; "Now I am once again using my presidential authority to activate additional security assistance to continue to help Ukraine fend off Russia's assault, an additional $800 million in assistance. That brings the total of new U.S. security assistance to Ukraine to $1 billion dollars just this week. These are direct transfers of equipment from our Department of Defense to the Ukrainian military to help them as they fight against this invasion. And I thank the Congress for appropriating these funds. This new package on its own is going to provide unprecedented assistance to Ukraine. It includes eight hundred anti-aircraft systems to make sure that Ukrainian military can continue to stop the planes and helicopters that have been attacking their people and to defend our Ukrainian airspace. And at the request of President Zelenskiy, we have identified and are helping Ukraine acquire additional longer range and aircraft systems and the munitions for those systems."
He has also added in his speech ; "This will include drones, which demonstrates our commitment to sending our most cutting edge systems to Ukraine for its defense. And we're not doing this alone. Our allies and partners have stepped up to provide significant shipments of security assistance and will continue to help facilitate these deliveries as well. The United States and our allies and partners are fully committed to surging weapons of assistance to the Ukrainians, and more will be coming as we source additional stocks of equipment that are, that we're ready to transfer now. Now, I want to be honest with you, this could be a long and difficult battle, but the American people will be steadfast in our support of the people of Ukraine in the face of Putin's immoral, unethical attacks on civilian populations."
The new funds will come from a spending bill Biden has signed into law that includes $13.6 billion in new aid to Ukraine.
In his address to Congress, Zelenskiy has compared the attacks in Ukraine to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that pulled the United States into World War Two, and begged lawmakers, and Biden directly, for more help.
"This is a terror that Europe has not seen for 80 years, and we are asking for our life, for an answer to this terror from the whole world. Is this a lot to ask for? To create a no-fly zone over Ukraine to save people?" Zelenskiy has asked through an interpreter.
"If this is too much to ask, we offer an alternative," he has said. "You know what kind of defense systems we need," adding that he knows the United States has them.
Biden has referred to the creation of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as "World War Three," and the Pentagon has refused requests to send fighter jets to Ukraine.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russia and Ukraine both emphasized newfound scope for compromise as peace talks were set to resume three weeks into a Russian assault that has so far failed to topple the Ukrainian government.
On Tuesday, the White House has said Biden will travel to Brussels for a March 24 NATO summit on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow terms a "special military operation" to disarm and "denazify" its neighbor.
Biden has ratcheted up sanctions imposed on Russia in recent days. He has called for a suspension of Russia's trading status that affords its exported products lower tariffs in the international arena and announced a ban on Russian oil and other energy imports.
