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Biden administration prepares final massive Ukraine aid package ahead of Trump inauguration, AP reports

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Biden administration prepares final massive Ukraine aid package ahead of Trump inauguration, AP reports
HIMARS launched a rocket in the Bakhmut direction on May 18, 2023, in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. (Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

The Biden administration plans to unveil a significant final weapons aid package for Ukraine during Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s visit to Germany on Jan. 9.

Austin is set to meet representatives from around 50 nations that have supported Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion nearly three years ago, two senior defense officials told the Associated Press.

While the officials did not specify the exact value of the aid, they described it as "substantial." The package will not encompass the approximately $4 billion remaining in congressionally approved funding for Ukraine. However, they noted that "more than a couple of billion dollars" would likely be left for the incoming Trump administration to allocate if it chooses to do so.

Ukraine is currently engaged in a second offensive targeting Russia’s Kursk region while enduring long-range missile strikes and Russian advancements in Donetsk Oblast. Both sides are maneuvering to strengthen their negotiating positions ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

According to one defense official, Biden administration officials handling Ukraine policy have been coordinating with Trump’s transition team to address "all the issues that we believe are important. "

Austin’s trip to Ramstein Air Base will mark his final meeting with the coalition he formed in response to Russia’s invasion in February 2022. Over the course of the war, these nations have contributed more than $126 billion in military assistance, including ammunition, advanced fighter jets, air defense systems, counter-UAV technologies, and tanks. The U.S.  has provided $66 billion of that total.

The upcoming aid package, scheduled to be announced on Jan. 9, will draw from existing stockpiles with the intent of delivering most of the pledged weapons to Ukraine before Trump takes office, one official said.

Europe cannot fill void left by US in Ukraine’s defense
Since the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, the question on everyone’s mind is whether Europe, including the U.K., can replace the military assistance the U.S. is giving Ukraine. The short answer is no. The reasons for this are a mix of politics and
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Olena Goncharova

Head of North America desk

Olena Goncharova is the Head of North America desk at The Kyiv Independent, where she has previously worked as a development manager and Canadian correspondent. She first joined the Kyiv Post, Ukraine's oldest English-language newspaper, as a staff writer in January 2012 and became the newspaper’s Canadian correspondent in June 2018. She is based in Edmonton, Alberta. Olena has a master’s degree in publishing and editing from the Institute of Journalism in Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv. Olena was a 2016 Alfred Friendly Press Partners fellow who worked for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for six months. The program is administered by the University of Missouri School of Journalism in Columbia.

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