OAN’s Brooke Mallory
11:53 AM – Thursday, December 28, 2023
The Biden administration made Ukraine the beneficiary of an additional $250 million military aid package on Wednesday.
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According to a State Department spokesman who spoke to CBS News, the assistance package, which is the final one of the year before 2024 commences, will contain weapons and equipment such as anti-armor and air defense ammunition, as well as more than 15 million rounds of small arms ammunition and ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket launchers.
“Our assistance has been critical to supporting our Ukrainian partners as they defend their country and their freedom against Russia’s aggression,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement.
Blinken also begged Congress to “swiftly” approve even more aid to Ukraine in 2024.
The United States “continued to demonstrate its enduring commitment to Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s brutal aggression with the announcement of additional arms and equipment to help Ukraine defend its territory and protect its people,” according to a State Department spokesperson.
President Biden made the statement during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy earlier this month at the White House. However, the news of the most recent aid package was kept under wraps until this week.
The decision coincided with a sharp reduction in assistance from Ukraine’s other foreign allies, which has reached its lowest point since the war’s beginning, according to the Ukraine aid tracker maintained by the German Kiel Institute.
For example, Hungary vetoed efforts from the European Union to provide over $55 billion in aid to Ukraine back on December 14th.
In the U.S., a GOP disagreement with Democrats regarding border security in the United States led Senate Republicans to oppose more financing for Ukraine earlier this month. Additionally, Democrat Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), as well as a number of news outlets like The New York Times and ABC News, falsely asserted and reported that no further aid would be given to Ukraine this year.
On December 19th, ABC News reported Schumer’s remarks, where he claimed that discussions among a small number of important stakeholders would continue that week, although “an agreement on border and Ukraine financing would not be reached before the end of the year.”
“The decisions we make now are going to determine the future for decades to come, particularly in Europe,” Biden said during his meeting with Zelenskyy. “And this is one of those moments. Congress needs to pass the supplemental funding for Ukraine before they break for the holiday recess, before they give [Vladimir] Putin the greatest Christmas gift they could possibly give him.”
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