WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Friday announced $125 million in new US military aid to Ukraine — as Kyiv’s troops press deeper into Russia as part of a stunning four-day counter-offensive.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the aid is drawn from congressionally authorized funds and includes “air defense interceptors, munitions for rocket systems and artillery, multi-mission radars, and anti-tank weapons.”
The US government has avoided commenting, meanwhile, on Ukrainian operations in the Russian region of Kursk north of Kharkiv, where Ukrainian troops reportedly have taken about 100 square miles of land — putting new pressure on Moscow to withdraw from occupied areas of Ukraine.
White House spokesman John Kirby, who handles foreign affairs topics, told reporters in a gaggle Friday that he would refrain from commenting and let “Ukraine speak to their military operations.”
“We’re in touch with our Ukrainian counterparts, and we are working to gain a better understanding of what they’re doing, what their goals are, what their strategy is, and I’m going to leave a little bit of space for us to have those conversations before I try to characterize what’s going on,” Kirby said.
The Ukrainian counter-offensive comes at a time of uncertainty for US policy in the conflict — as former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, vows to personally broker a peace deal if he wins the Nov. 5 election, insisting he would do so before assuming office on Jan. 20.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed concern that such a deal would compel Kyiv to concede Russian-occupied regions of southern and eastern Ukraine.
The incursion is a major embarrassment to Russian President Vladmir Putin — who also was unable to secure his nation’s western border in June 2023 when the Kremlin-backed mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin left the battlefield with thousands of his men and marched on Moscow.
The Ukrainian move also could give Kyiv leverage in talks on ending the more than decade-long conflict, which began with the ouster of Ukraine’s pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 and evolved into open, large-scale war in February 2022 when Russia directly invaded and attempted to capture Kyiv.
Congress in April approved $60.8 billion in aid for Ukraine to resist the Russian invasion — on top of $113 bill i on appropriated earlier in the conflict.
The new security package will come from that funding and be sourced from Pentagon stockpiles.
Trump, who is facing Vice President Kamala Harris in the election, has objected to the scale of assistance and argued that President Biden mismanaged the conflict.
“I think Zelensky is maybe the greatest salesman of any politician that’s ever lived,” Trump said in a backhanded compliment in June.
“Every time he comes to our country, he walks away with $60 billion.”
However, his rhetoric has softened more recently, conveying sympathy for the plights of the beleaguered nation in a Monday interview with streamer Adin Ross.
“When you look at all of the death and all of the destruction, even of their culture, because those cities are wiped to the ground,” he said.
“Outside of Kyiv, most of those cities are wiped down to the ground. And it’s so sad.”
