Pentagon ready to send weapons to Ukraine in less than week after Congress approval — WP
Photo: AFP
After all the procedures for adopting the relevant legislation are completed, the Pentagon will need less than a week to deliver some of the weapons to the Ukrainian units.
The Washington Post writes about this with reference to American officials, EP cites.
United States officials said the Defense Department is ready to provide significant military aid to Ukraine after the Senate approves the Ukraine aid bill next week and President Joe Biden signs it into law.
According to the interlocutors of the outlet, the Pentagon warned that Ukraine would gradually yield to Russian forces and face staggering losses without urgent action on Capitol Hill.
Therefore, the ministry started collecting the aid package long before the upcoming votes, trying to speed up the process. According to the official, some weapons will take less than a week to reach the battlefield.
It was not immediately clear how large the package would be. However, it will almost certainly contain much-needed munitions for the systems the Ukrainian military relies on the most, including:
- 155-mm projectiles used in NATO howitzers,
- and ammunition for medium-range rocket artillery.
It is also likely that the Pentagon will provide Ukraine with a fresh tranche of air defense equipment and ammunition, which is vital to combat Russia's relentless campaign against the country's civilian infrastructure.
What is known about the provision of aid to Ukraine from the United States
On April 20, the US House of Representatives approved a bill on financing aid to Ukraine. Even before the end of voting, the required number of votes was collected for the draft law. Three hundred ten congressmen voted for the draft law, while 112 spoke against it.
The Ukrainian package provides for about $61 billion in aid to Ukraine and its allies and resupply of the US military. It also calls for the administration to hand over long-range ATACMS missiles to Kyiv.
The President of the United States called on the Senate to approve the bill on aid to Ukraine as soon as possible.
In turn, Zelensky thanked the US Congress for approving aid to Ukraine, noting that this decision preserves the correct course of history.
Subsequently, the leader of the majority in the Senate, Democrat Chuck Schumer, announced that on Tuesday, April 23, the Senate of the United States of America will consider the bill on assistance to Ukraine, which was finally approved by the House of Representatives on April 20.
It should be added that in order for the document to become law, it must be voted by both houses of Congress and signed by the US president.
We will remind that the day before, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, presented four separate bills on financing US aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, as well as other national security priorities.
