(Image source from: x.com/WhiteHouse)
US President Joe Biden's administration is preparing a $725 million arms package for Ukraine as the outgoing president looks to shore up the government in Kiev before he leaves office in January, two US officials say. The Biden administration will deploy various anti-tank weapons from U.S. stockpiles to slow the Russian advance, including mines, drones, Stinger missiles and High Mobility Artillery Missile System (HIMARS) ammunition, according to people familiar with the plan Weapons. . According to a Reuters statement, the package also contains cluster munitions normally contained in GMLRS missiles fired from a HIMARS launcher. A formal announcement of the arms package to Congress could come as early as Monday, the official said. The contents and size of the package could change in the coming days ahead of Biden's expected signature. It represents a sharp increase as Biden recently used the president's so-called "Budget Reduction Authority" (PDA), which allows him to draw funds from the current weapons stockpile to support allies in an emergency.
Current PDA announcements typically range between $125 million and $250 million. Biden already has about $4 billion to $5 billion in PDA approved by Congress that he plans to use before Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20. The United States has not exported landmines in decades, and their use is controversial. Because it could harm civilians. More than 160 countries have signed a treaty banning its use, but Kiev has continued to use it on the front lines since Russia launched a massive offensive in early 2022. The mines being sent to Ukraine are “non-persistent” mines, meaning the devices remain non-lethal because the power grid only works for a short period of time. This means that, unlike older landmines, they do not remain underground. Threatening civilians indefinitely, Russian forces are now expanding in Ukraine at the fastest pace since the first days of the invasion in 2022. Last month they captured an area half the size of London.
The United States expects Ukraine to use landmines on its own territory, but has promised not to use landmines in areas where civilians live. President Trump on Wednesday named retired Gen. Keith Kellogg, who devised a plan to end the war in Ukraine, as his special envoy for the conflict. A quick end to the war in Ukraine was one of President Trump's key campaign promises, but he refused to say how he would end it.
