The Biden administration announced a major new package of military hardware for Ukraine, sending 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers, 59 Bradley fighting vehicles and an array of other gear as western allies look to give the country a boost before Russia launches a new ground campaign expected this spring.
(Bloomberg) — The Biden administration announced a major new package of military hardware for Ukraine, sending 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers, 59 Bradley fighting vehicles and an array of other gear as western allies look to give the country a boost before Russia launches a new ground campaign expected this spring.
The $2.5 billion package includes millions of rounds of ammunition, tens of thousands of artillery rounds, night vision gear and other equipment, the Pentagon said. It marks the 30th drawdown from Defense Department stocks since the war began.
“The Kremlin’s most recent air attacks against Ukraine’s critical infrastructure again demonstrate the devastating impact of Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine,” the Defense Department said in a statement on Thursday evening.
The announcement came on the eve of a defense ministers meeting on Ukraine at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. A number of Western nations have offered new shipments of weapons before the gathering. The UK, for instance, said it would provide a further 600 Brimstone ground- or air-launched missiles, and Denmark will send French-made howitzers.
At the same time, the US and some European nations have been struggling to overcome Germany’s reluctance to supply its Leopard battle tank to Ukraine, a disagreement that threatens to distract from the unity that allies want to project at the Ramstein gathering of the Defense Contact Group — an American-assembled body meant to coordinate weapons aid for Ukraine.
The US isn’t expected to make available its main battle tank, the M1 Abrams, given its heavy demands for fuel and maintenance. Germany has resisted providing Leopards — or allowing other countries to send them — unless the US agrees to send the Abrams.
The package announced Thursday will bring total American military assistance for Ukraine to about $27.5 billion since the beginning of the Biden administration, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
The tank disagreements aside, Ukraine’s allies have bolstered their weapons commitments as the conflict has been punctuated with Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian power and water plants and other as well apartment buildings even as fierce fighting rages near the eastern city of Bakhmut. And despite the repeated battlefield failures of his armed forces over the past year, Russian President Vladimir Putin seems determined to pursue the war.
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