Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Ukraine is receiving “vital, defensive” military assistance as it continues to defend itself against Russia’s invasion.
“When it comes to vital, defensive military equipment that Ukraine needs, we are very actively coordinating its provision, and that assistance is getting there,” Blinken told reporters on Wednesday.
The U.S. estimates that Russia has sent 82 percent of the combat power it staged outside of Ukraine prior to the invasion, a senior defense official told reporters earlier in the day.
Among that power is a 40-mile-long military convoy that is heading toward Kyiv, though the official said that Washington believes movement is “stalled” due to a lack of supplies and Ukrainian resistance.
The Biden administration has said it will not send troops directly into Ukraine, but over the past year it has provided about $1 billion in defensive aid to Kyiv.
Last week, President Biden approved an additional $350 million in military assistance to Ukraine to help with armored, airborne and other significant threats.
And Blinken said over the past several days that he has authorized allies to transfer defensive equipment of U.S. origin to Ukraine, including anti-tank and anti-craft weaponry, and is was working to get the equipment to the country.
“We are very actively working every day, every hour to provide that assistance and to make sure that to the best of our ability, it gets to where it needs to go,” he said.
“And this is not just us, this is many countries in Europe. We’re coordinating a lot of efforts to do that. And my own assessment right now is that the vitally needed assistance is getting to where it needs to go,” he said.