US President Joe Biden spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday and announced a new round of military aid for Kiev, valued by the Pentagon at $125 million.
The conversation between the two leaders came just ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day, the same day that Washington announced sweeping sanctions against hundreds of individuals and companies linked to Russia’s invasion of the country.
“I am proud that today we will announce a new package of military assistance for Ukraine,” Biden said in a statement.
“The package includes air defense missiles to protect Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, anti-drone equipment and anti-armor missiles to defend against Russia’s changing tactics on the battlefield, as well as ammunition for front-line troops and mobile rocket systems to protect them,” he said.
“Russia will not win this conflict. The free people of Ukraine will prevail — and the United States, our allies, and our partners will stand with them every step of the way,” Biden said.
The US Defense Department later said the package was worth $125 million and included items drawn from US stocks that would provide Kiev with “additional capabilities to meet its most urgent needs.”
Zelensky praised the announcement of military aid, saying air security was particularly urgently needed.
“I welcomed the new US military aid package and stressed that Ukraine urgently needs weapons under the announced packages, especially additional air defense systems, to reliably protect our cities, communities and critical infrastructure,” he said in a post on X.
The United States has been a major military supporter of Ukraine, committing more than $55 billion in arms, ammunition and other security assistance since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
– New sanctions on Russia –
The latest aid announcement comes as Ukrainian troops invade Russia’s western Kursk region – the most serious attack by a foreign force on Russian territory since World War II.
Earlier on Friday, the US Treasury, State and Commerce departments announced new sanctions that are in addition to existing ones imposed against Russia over the invasion.
The sanctions target nearly 400 individuals and entities inside and outside Russia “whose products and services enable Russia to continue its war effort and evade sanctions,” the US Treasury Department announced in a statement.
It said the sanctioned companies included 60 Russian defense and technology firms “that are vital to the stability and development of the Russian defense industry.”
The State Department said in a separate statement that it was responsible for 190 sanctions, and the Treasury Department was responsible for nearly 200 others.
It said its sanctions were “aimed at disrupting sanctions evasion and target entities in a number of third countries,” including China as well as businesses supporting the development of Russian energy projects.
Alongside the sanctions announced Friday, the Commerce Department announced it was taking “aggressive action” to further restrict the supply of goods made in the United States, or labeled as such, to both Russia and Belarus because of the “Kremlin’s illegal war on Ukraine.”
“Today’s action will further disrupt Russia’s ability to provide weapons to its military by targeting an illicit procurement network designed to circumvent global export controls,” the department said in a statement.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
