US unveils fresh $1bn military aid to Ukraine as grain piles up

A local resident is seen near his building destroyed by Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, in the town of Pokrovsk, in Donetsk region, Ukraine on Wednesday. (Reuters photo)

The US administration of President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced an additional $1 billion in security aid for Ukraine, the largest single package of weapons and equipment offered to the Eastern European country in the war against Russia.

The latest support will bring the total US security assistance to Ukraine to over $5.6 billion since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24, the Biden administration said.

The United States has also been working to shore up international support for Ukraine, with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin convening a meeting in Brussels the same day with representatives from some 50 countries to win pledges to provide more military capabilities to Kyiv.

At the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Austin told the gathering of the “Ukraine Defense Contact Group” that Ukraine is facing a “pivotal moment” in the war, as Russia has shifted its focus to the eastern Donbas region.

The United States said two Harpoon anti-ship missile systems and additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, known as HIMARS, which will enable the Ukrainian military to hit targets at a distance of about 80 kilometres, are among what will be provided to Ukraine as part of its latest military aid.

The Biden administration also announced the same day an additional $225 million in humanitarian assistance for Ukraine, including safe drinking water, critical medical supplies and health care.

Meanwhile, senior European officials are not optimistic about the chances of Putin agreeing to a deal that would allow Ukraine to resume its grain exports, even as Moscow and Kyiv may take part in UN-facilitated discussions this week.

One of the people said the Kremlin had manufactured the debate as a means to get sanctions lifted and was intent on using the threat of global hunger as a bargaining tool in any future peace talks.

A number of issues remain unsolved while alternative plans to get the grain out of Ukraine are fraught with security and logistical challenges, the people said. More than 25 million tons of grain, sunflower oil and other commodities are estimated to be stuck in Ukraine.