US announces new Ukraine security package

The U.S. on Tuesday announced a new security package for Ukraine valued at $250 million, which includes more small arms ammunition and munitions for missiles for Kyiv.

The package announced Tuesday includes AIM-9M air defense missiles and munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, both of which have proved indispensable for Kyiv in the war against Russia.

The new assistance also includes more 155 mm and 105 mm artillery ammunition, mine-clearing equipment, Javelin rockets and more than 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition. The announcement also noted ambulances were being provided to Kyiv but did not provide any more specific details.

“Today we are announcing a significant new assistance package for Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on X, the platform formerly called Twitter. “Guided rockets, anti-armor, and other munitions will help Ukraine’s military forces to defend their country’s sovereignty, territory, and people.”

The latest package brings the U.S. closer to its limit of available Congress-approved funds left for Ukraine. The White House earlier this month asked for an additional $13 billion in security assistance for the embattled nation.

That is setting up a major fight within the GOP, which is increasingly divided between Ukraine supporters and skeptics.

With the latest round of equipment and weapons, total U.S. assistance since the beginning of the war in early 2022 amounts to more than $43 billion, according to The Hill’s tracking of available public data.

The Pentagon has said accounting errors have freed up billions of dollars but have not been able to make clear exactly how much money has been spent and how much is left.

Last year, Congress approved about $47 billion of assistance for Ukraine’s direct security needs, with the latest package approved in December.