Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) – US President Joe Biden announced additional $ 800 million in military aid to Ukraine on Wednesday, expanding the scope of supplies to include heavy artillery in the face of a wider Russian offensive in the face of a wider Russian offensive. read more The package, which raises the total military aid toll from the Russian invasion in February to more than $ 2.5 billion, includes artillery systems, artillery, armored personnel carriers and unmanned coastal defense vessels, the defense said. after a telephone conversation with the Ukrainian President. Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Biden said he had also approved the transfer of additional helicopters, saying the equipment provided to Ukraine was “critical” as it dealt with the invasion. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register “We can not calm down now. As I assured President Zelensky, the American people will continue to stand by the brave Ukrainian people in their struggle for freedom,” Biden said in a written statement. The new package includes 11 Mi-17 helicopters destined for Afghanistan before the collapse of the US-backed government last year. It also includes 18 155mm shells, along with 40,000 artillery shells, anti-aircraft radar, 200 armored personnel carriers and 300 additional Switchblade drones. This was the first time that shells were provided to Ukraine by the United States. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said some of the systems, such as howitzers and radars, would require additional training for Ukrainian forces not accustomed to using US military equipment. “We know the clock and we know that time is not our friend,” Kirby said when asked about the speed of deliveries. “BIGGER, STRONGER WEAPONS” The new aid – first reported by Reuters on Tuesday – will be funded using the Presidental Drawdown Authority, or PDA, in which the president can authorize the transfer of articles and services from U.S. stocks without congressional approval in response to emergency. read more John Spencer, a retired U.S. Army major and civil war expert at the Madison Policy Forum, said he was excited to see the United States sending artillery and ammunition. “You need these bigger, more powerful weapons… to match what Russia is bringing to try to occupy eastern Ukraine,” Spencer said. As news of the latest security bailout erupted, executives from top U.S. arms makers met with Pentagon officials to discuss industrial challenges in the event of a protracted conflict in Ukraine. These included executives of BAE Systems Plc (BAES.L), General Dynamics Corp (GD.N), Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N), Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII.N), L3Harris Technologies (LHX.N), Boeing Co (BA.N), Raytheon Technologies Corp (RTX.N) and Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N). Zelensky has asked US and European leaders to provide heavier weapons and equipment. Thousands were killed and millions displaced in the seven-week invasion. Russia has failed to achieve most of its military goals, as the Ukrainians have put up a tougher resistance than expected. Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” to destroy Ukraine’s military capabilities and capture those it considers dangerous nationalists, but Ukraine and the West say Russia has launched an unprovoked offensive war. Russia said Wednesday it had taken control of the port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine and that more than 1,000 Ukrainian Marines had surrendered. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Patricia Zengerle, Idrees Ali and Mike Stone. Additional references by Humeyra Pamuk, Doina Chiacu and Temis Tormo. Editing: Mary Milliken, Will Dunham and Grant McCool Our role models: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
