The Pentagon is “rushing” to provide fresh arms supplies to Ukraine, especially Patriot air defence missiles and artillery ammunition, as it finalised a new $6bn aid package for Kyiv.
The US is working with allies “rushing Ukraine the capabilities to meet its urgent battlefield needs and helping Ukraine to build the future force to stave off and deter Russian aggression over the longer term,” US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin said in a news conference after a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, calling the Russian invasion of Ukraine “Putin’s war of choice”.
He said the group “pushed especially hard today to rush in more air defence systems and Interceptors”. This is the single largest assistance package Joe Biden’s administration has provided.
The announcement came shortly after Volodymyr Zelensky pleaded with the US and other allies to send Ukraine more Patriot missiles, saying at least seven more systems were needed.
“We urgently need Patriot systems and missiles for them,” he told the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, a coalition of about 50 countries gathering virtually in a Pentagon-led meeting.
“This is what can and should save lives right now.”