Zelensky Hails 'Unprecedented' $3BN+ Arms Deal With UK As US Supplies Have Stopped
White House national security spokesman John Kirby in a Thursday briefing confirmed that at this point US military supplies to Ukraine have stopped. The aid dried up after the very final aid package of $250 million was authorized by President Biden at the end of December based on the Presidential Drawdown Authority, and as Congress blocked his $100 billion supplemental budget request.
Kirby explained in a press briefing Thursday, "We have issued the last drawdown package that we had funding to support, and that’s why it’s critical that Congress move on that national security supplemental request." That's when he confirmed the reporters for the first time: "the assistance that [the US had] provided has now ground to a halt."
Ukraine's Zelensky has this week been touring Baltic countries to shore up support while urging that things like advanced anti-air missiles are desperately needed.
More importantly, on Friday Ukraine and Britain have announced a breakthrough deal that will see the UK provide over $3 billion in new military assistance amid the war with Russia. Sunak was in the Ukrainian capital for the big announcement.
"Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain visited Kyiv on Friday to announce that he would send more than $3 billion in military assistance to Ukraine in the next financial year, his country’s largest annual commitment since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion," reports the NY Times.
According Sunak's statement:
The British aid for the coming year represents an increase of 200 million pounds, about $255 million, compared with the country’s annual commitment for the past two years. Much of the increase will go toward the production and procurement of thousands of military drones that are crucial for Ukraine. Britain will also deliver long-range missiles, air defenses and artillery ammunition.
“For two years, Ukraine has fought with great courage to repel a brutal Russian invasion. They are still fighting, unfaltering in their determination to defend their country,” Mr. Sunak said in the statement. “I am here today with one message: The U.K. will also not falter. We will stand with Ukraine, in their darkest hours and in the better times to come.”
This marks a continuation and expansion of prior British PM Boris Johnson's policy, given also London was among the first and biggest supporters of Kiev, flying cargo planes full of aid there even within the opening weeks of the war.
In this video posted on President Volodymyr Zelensky's Telegram channel on Jan. 12, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is seen arriving in Kyiv for a meeting. "Today we stand side by side as friends and allies," reads the post. "This is a signal to the world: Ukraine is not alone." pic.twitter.com/o1BjaH64mf
— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) January 12, 2024
The Biden administration will certainly welcome this unprecedented UK aid deal, given Washington has been urging Europe to pick up the slack after Biden's massive defense supplement budget request was blocked by GOP Congressional holdouts.