US to send Ukraine $725M in new military aid, including land mines targeting North Korea, Russia infantry
The US will send Ukraine another $725 million in military hardware — including rockets, land mines and counter-drone systems — as Kyiv clamors for more arms to fight Russia’s heightened offensive.The American shipment will include munitions for Ukraine’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, US officials told The Associated Press — which could mean the weapons package includes more of the long-range missiles that are used by an HIMARS.Ukraine has sought more of the missiles to strike deep into Russian territory — as it did late last month after the Biden administration gave it the green light to hit the Russians on their own land.Two US officials who discussed the package with AP before it was announced would not confirm whether the new weapons shipment includes rockets for the long-range system.The move to increase US arms to Kyiv comes as lame-duck President Biden works to spend every dime of the military-assistance money that Congress approved for Ukraine earlier this year — especially because it’s not clear whether the incoming Trump administration will support the country in its existential battle against Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
The new weapons package also includes land mines, which Ukraine needs to try to slow Russian and North Korean infantry as they attempt to retake parts of Russia’s Kursk region, which Ukraine seized this summer.Trump has promised to end the conflict in “one day.” But he has never said how.Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine on Monday for the first time in more than two years and promised to support Kyiv in its battle for survival — an important message since Germany is Ukraine’s second-largest military backer, behind only the US.
The war between Ukraine and invader Russia is nearly at the three-year mark.Last week, in a major policy shift, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signaled that “the hot stage of the war” could end if NATO offered membership to the territory th...