The Defense Department has awarded the first contract of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative’s $300 million budget for this year, a $19.7 million deal with AeroVironment for a small, hand-launched surveillance drone called the RQ-20 Puma AE.
The U.S. has approved another $100 million in Javelin anti-tank weapons and training for Ukraine from U.S. military stocks, for a total of $1.7 billion in U.S. aid since Russia’s invasion, it was announced Tuesday.
Senate lawmakers finalized a $1.5 trillion spending bill late Thursday that provides $13.6 billion in new aid for Ukraine and gives funding stability for the Defense Department for the rest of the fiscal year.
Lawmakers unveiled a $13.6 billion Ukraine aid package on Wednesday that took President Joe Biden’s request for weapons and training for Ukrainian forces and put it on steroids.
The country has made a concerted effort to boost its presence across the European Union's and NATO's institutions as an advertisement of its commitment to the West.
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