WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States is providing Ukraine with US$350 million (S$473.71 million) in additional military equipment to fight off Russia's "brutal and unprovoked assault". Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Saturday (Feb 26).
"This package will include further lethal defensive assistance to help Ukraine address the armoured, airborne and other threats it is now facing," Mr Blinken said in a statement.
Mr Blinken said that last autumn, as Russia started amassing troops on the border with its pro-Western neighbour, President Joe Biden authorised US$60 million in immediate military assistance to Ukraine, then another US$200 million in December as President Vladimir Putin's threat became more acute.
Now the US is authorising a third package "as Ukraine fights with courage and pride against Russia's brutal and unprovoked assault", Mr Blinken said.
This means total US security assistance committed to Ukraine over the past year now exceeds a billion dollars, the secretary said.
He did not detail what kind of weaponry was involved.
"It is another clear signal that the United States stands with the people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereign, courageous, and proud nation," he said.
The new assistance follows a series of US and other Western sanctions against Russian banks and oligarchs in an effort to punish Mr Putin and his inner circle for the invasion of Ukraine and cripple the Russian economy.
