US president announces further $500M military package for Ukraine

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - US President Joe Biden in a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Monday announced a new $500 million military aid package for Ukraine.

"Together, we have committed nearly 700 tanks, thousands of armored vehicles, 1,000 artillery systems, more than two million rounds artillery ammunition, more than 50 advanced launch rocket systems, anti-ship and air defense systems. All to defend Ukraine. And that doesn't count the other half a billion dollars that we will be renouncing to you today and tomorrow," Biden said in a news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Biden said this announcement also includes artillery ammunition for HIMARS and howitzers, in addition to more Javelin anti-tank missile systems and surveillance radars, all to be given to "protect the Ukrainian people."

Biden also noted that Washington will later this week declare additional sanctions on Russian companies and elites that are trying to evade sanctions imposed on Moscow, saying that his presence in Kyiv demonstrates US support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.

For his part, Zelenskyy said negotiations between himself and Biden were very fruitful and that its results will be reflected "on the battlefield."

"We have also talked about long-range weapons and the weapons that may still be supplied to Ukraine even though it wasn’t supplied before," he said.

Biden arrived in Kyiv earlier in the day in an unannounced visit, two months after Zelenskyy traveled to the US in his first foreign visit abroad.