Biden: the United States will hand over air defense systems to Ukraine
President Joe Biden said the United States would hand over air defense systems to Ukraine to counter Russian aggression.
He stated this during a speech at the White House, UP reports.
"At the request of President Zelenskyy, we are providing long-range air defense systems and ammunition for these systems," Biden said.
He also announced an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine.
"This increases new security aid to Ukraine to $1 billion this week alone. It will be a direct supply of equipment from our Defense Department. This aid package includes 800 anti-aircraft systems so Ukrainians can continue to stop planes and helicopters attacking their people and protect its airspace," Biden said.
In general, the announced aid package will include:
- 800 units of air defense systems of different range;
- drones;
- 9,000 units of anti-tank systems;
- 7,000 small arms and 20 million rounds of ammunition.
Earlier, CNN reported that the United States and its NATO allies were sending several anti-aircraft missile systems to Ukraine to help defend against Russian aggression. These include the Soviet Osa systems, modifications to the S-300 systems, and the Strela-3 portable anti-aircraft missile systems.
Note
On Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on the US Congress to provide air defense systems to fight Russian planes and missiles if the West does not want to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
Earlier, Germany began moving the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system to Slovakia, and the United States decided to send two batteries of Patriot missile defense systems to Poland.
To recap, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the Alliance hadn't changed its position on the no-fly zone over Ukraine, to prevent the Russian war against Ukraine from escalating into a war with NATO.
