President Biden announces $5.9B in military aid for Ukraine, boosting support before leaving office as questions loom over future aid under President-elect Trump.
The United States on Monday announced nearly $6 billion in additional military and budget assistance for Ukraine as President Joe Biden uses his final weeks in office to surge aid to Kyiv before President-elect Donald Trump takes power.
Biden announced $2.5 billion in additional security assistance for Ukraine.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States has made available $3.4 billion in additional budget aid to Ukraine, giving the war-torn country critical resources amid intensifying Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure.
"At my direction, the United States will continue to work relentlessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in this war over the remainder of my time in office," Biden said in a statement.
Biden's announcement includes $1.25 billion in military aid drawn from U.S. stockpiles and a $1.22 billion Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) package, the final USAI package of Biden's time in office.
Under USAI, military equipment is procured from the defense industry or partners, rather than drawn from American stocks, meaning it can take months or years to arrive on the battlefield.
Yellen said in a statement the direct budget assistance, provided in coordination with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the State Department, marked the final disbursement under the 2024 Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act.
The U.S. Congress has approved $175 billion in total assistance for Ukraine since Russia's invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Recently the Russians have been using North Korean troops to bolster their fighting position.
North Korean forces are experiencing mass casualties on the front lines of Russia's war against Ukraine, with 1,000 of their troops killed or wounded in the last week alone in Russia's Kursk region, White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday.
Biden said the new assistance will provide Ukraine with "an immediate influx of capabilities that it continues to use to great effect on the battlefield and longer-term supplies of air defense, artillery, and other critical weapons systems."
Nearly three years into the war, Washington has committed billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine, but it is uncertain if the aid will continue at that pace under Trump, who succeeds Biden on Jan. 20.
Trump has said he wants to bring the war to a swift end.
During the presidential campaign, Trump questioned the level of U.S. involvement in the conflict, suggesting European allies should bear more of the financial burden.
Some of his fellow Republicans - who will control both the House of Representatives and Senate starting next month - have also cooled on sending more aid to Kyiv.
A U.S. official said the $3.4 billion in budget funding brings the total in U.S. budget aid to Ukraine to just over $30 billion since Russia's invasion in February 2022. Most of those funds are used to keep Ukraine's government running by paying salaries to teachers and other state employees.
Washington has separately provided approximately $61.4 billion in security assistance to Kyiv since the start of the war, according to the Pentagon.
Biden said the Defense Department is in the process of delivering hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets, and hundreds of armored vehicles "which will strengthen Ukraine’s hand as it heads into the winter."
Yellen said continued economic aid for Ukraine was crucial to allow it to maintain government services and continue to defend its sovereignty, warning against moves to cut funding.
"Ukraine’s success is in America’s core national interest," she said, vowing to continue to pressure Moscow with sanctions and to help position Ukraine to achieve a just peace.
"We must not retreat in this effort."
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Saudi Arabia said its air defences destroyed a Houthi drone south of Mecca before it could enter prohibited airspace over the holy city, as attacks by the Iran-aligned group deepen regional tensions.
Russian air strikes injured 13 and damaged buildings in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and in the Black Sea port city of Odesa in the early hours of Thursday, officials said on the Telegram messaging app.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he hoped the war against Iran was nearing its end and that Tehran wanted to reach a deal, but Iran dismissed his comments as “mixed signals” as the conflict approaches its seventh month.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said a Togo-flagged oil tanker was struck while attempting to make an “illegal passage” through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media said early on Friday.
The European Union will disburse €3.3 billion ($3.8 billion) to Ukraine for missiles and drones, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Russia’s first State Duma election since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine is testing the country’s political system as voters choose a new parliament amid wartime and economic pressures.
From Russia’s parliamentary election and Germany’s regional votes to the U.S. midterms, several major elections are taking place in September and November of 2026. Meanwhile, Sweden has already voted, with parties now negotiating to form a new government.
Pakistan has described the situation around the Bab el-Mandeb Strait as “exceptionally serious”, calling for dialogue and diplomacy as Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia intensify.
Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are taking “concrete steps” to make a recently signed joint defence pact operational, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Thursday.
The European Union will disburse €3.3 billion ($3.8 billion) to Ukraine for missiles and drones, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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