Biden announces $425M Ukraine aid package in call with Zelensky as war with Russia rages on

President Biden announced Wednesday the US will send Ukraine another $425 million in military aid as he held a call with his Kyiv counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the 32-month-old war with Russia.“President Biden updated President Zelenskyy [sic] on his efforts to surge security assistance to Ukraine over the remainder of his term in office,” the White House said in a readout of the call.The package will include munitions for the US-supplied National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, known as NASAMS, and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); RIM-7 missiles for air defense; Stinger anti-aircraft missiles; air-to-ground munitions; Javelins and other shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons.It will also include 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition — on which Ukraine has relied heavily in its fight to keep its eastern Donbas region from falling entirely into Russian hands — as well as TOW missiles, light tactical vehicles, small arms, ammunition, and grenades.Also in the package will be “spare parts and ancillary equipment,” which Ukraine needs to fix and keep billions of dollars worth of previously sent American weapons operating on the battlefield.The equipment will come from Pentagon stockpiles, which will be replenished with new weapons purchased with the $425 million.Biden pledged last month to send all remaining congressionally approved funds to Ukraine before he leaves office — roughly $5.5 billion, according to the Pentagon.The White House said Wednesday additional Ukraine military aid packages utilizing those funds would be announced soon.“In the coming months, the United States will provide Ukraine with a range of additional capabilities, including hundreds of air defense interceptors, dozens of tactical air defense systems, additional artillery systems, significant quantities of ammunition, hundreds of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, and thousands of additional armored vehicles,” the administ...