U.S. President Joe Biden authorized another $800 million in U.S. military assistance to Ukraine on Thursday, declaring it was necessary to help Kyiv's forces repel Russian fighters in the critical battles unfolding in the eastern region of the country.
"This package includes heavy artillery weapons, dozens of howitzers and 144,000 rounds of ammunition".
Biden said in a short White House speech. He said the new arms shipment was particularly aimed at helping Ukraine's forces fight in the Donbas region, which is flatter, more open terrain than where earlier fighting had occurred to the west.
Biden said the new assistance, on top of another $800 million package announced last week, "almost" exhausts congressional authorization for U.S. military aid to Ukraine. But the president said he would soon ask Congress for even more money for Ukraine's forces.
"The most important thing is holding the world together" against Russia, Biden said. "So far, so good."
Biden vowed that Putin "will never succeed in occupying all of Ukraine. Putin has failed to achieve his grand ambitions on the battlefield. Kyiv still stands," the president said.
New refugee aid
In other war-related actions, Biden said he was sending $500 million to Ukraine in new economic aid, streamlining a humanitarian refugee effort to allow Ukrainians escaping the ravages of war in their homeland to move more quickly to the U.S. if they want and banning all Russian ships from docking at U.S. ports.
Fonte / Credit: Biden Announces $800 Million in New Military Aid for Ukraine - VoaNews