US announces new $425mn military aid package for Ukraine

The US has announced a new $425mn military aid package for Ukraine, as President Joe Biden tries to surge security assistance to Kyiv before his term ends and is possibly succeeded by Donald Trump.

The new package includes air defence capabilities, air-to-ground munitions, armoured vehicles and other critical munitions, Biden told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a call on Wednesday. The funds are from the more than $60bn set aside for Ukraine as part of a military aid package passed by lawmakers earlier this year.

Over the coming months, the US will also give Ukraine “hundreds of air defence interceptors, dozens of tactical air defence systems, additional artillery systems, significant quantities of ammunition, hundreds of armoured personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles, and thousands of additional armoured vehicles”, the White House said.