Abrams are coming next week
Kiev gets more US help – but no ATACMS
September 22, 2023, 3:41 a.m
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Ukrainian President Zelenskyj is not returning from Washington empty-handed: the USA is promising additional weapons and ammunition for a total of $325 million, partly from its own stocks. However, an urgent wish is not fulfilled.
The USA is providing further military aid to Ukraine. The State Department in Washington announced that weapons and equipment worth $128 million from US military stocks will be newly approved. The Pentagon will also provide $197 million in weapons and equipment previously approved. According to the Pentagon, the package with a total value of around $325 million includes, among other things, artillery ammunition and systems to defend against enemy air attacks.
However, Washington will not fulfill an urgent request from Kiev for the time being: the ATACMS missiles with a range of up to 300 kilometers requested from Kiev are not included in the package. The USA had shown itself to be extremely cautious on the subject – just as Germany was when it came to Taurus cruise missiles.
The US government announced the military aid during a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to the US capital Washington. He had previously met with members of the US Congress, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and President Joe Biden to promote further support. Biden has asked Congress for $24 billion (around 22.5 billion euros) in new funding for Ukraine. But there is resistance from the ranks of conservative Republicans – and they make up the majority in the House of Representatives. Biden expressed confidence that Congress would vote to continue aid. “I rely on the insight of the US Congress. There is no alternative,” the US President replied to a journalist’s question. Since the start of the war, US military aid to Ukraine has amounted to $43.9 billion, according to government figures.
After the meeting with Zelensky, Biden also announced that the first M1 Abrams battle tanks promised by the US will arrive in Urkaine next week. The US government agreed in January to deliver 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. In March, the Pentagon spoke of a planned delivery in the fall.