The White House: new US military aid package for Ukraine will include HIMARS missile systems
A new US military aid package for Ukraine will include HIMARS missile systems and will be announced on Wednesday, a high-ranking US administration official said at a briefing.
The Wall Street Journal earlier reported that the administration of President Joe Biden had approved supplies of MLRS and HIMARS systems to Ukraine. Biden himself said that the United States would not give Ukraine missiles capable of striking Russia. Later, Republican Congressman Adam Smith called the president’s words a “careless remark” and questioned them because of the common border any missiles from Ukraine could reach Russia.
“Tomorrow we will announce the 11th security assistance package. This package will include longer-range systems, particularly HIMARS,” a U.S. administration official said.
The delivery of the missile systems, according to the speaker, is designed to “strengthen Ukraine’s position” at the negotiating table to improve its defense capabilities.
He added that the ammunition for these missile systems is capable to hit targets at a distance of about 80 kilometers and will prevent the Ukrainian Armed Forces from striking outside of Ukrainian territory. The administration representative added that Kiev had promised not to use the weapons transferred to it, including HIMARS, against targets on Russian territory.
In total, the new U.S. military aid package to Ukraine is estimated at $700 million and will include radar stations, helicopters, vehicles, and anti-tank weapons, including Javelin systems, in addition to HIMARS.
Also, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a bill allocating military, economic and humanitarian aid to Kiev. It includes various allocations in one way or another related to the situation in Ukraine. Congress increased the amount to nearly $40 billion from the $33 billion initially requested by the head of state.