US Approves $800 Million in Weapons, Equipment to Ukraine

The Biden administration announced on Wednesday March 16 that it has approved the transfer of $800 million worth of weaponry and equipment to Ukraine.

Also ReadUN Confirms 691 Civilians Killed, 1143 Injured in Ukraine

The transfer follows Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s calls to Western allies to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine or provide Ukraine with the equipment necessary to counter Russian aircraft.

“I need to protect our sky,” President Zelensky said in a statement. “To create a no-fly zone over Ukraine, to save people, is this too much to ask?”

President Zelensky added that if the U.S. or NATO wouldn’t create a no-fly zone, then he needed the equipment that would enable Ukraine to establish one of its own.

Specifically, he asked for “S-300” surface-to-air missile systems and similar equipment capable of shooting down aircraft flying at high altitudes.

In a press conference on March 16 President Biden declined to comment on the possibility of providing Ukraine with fighter jets, a decision which the U.S. and NATO allies have been debating.

The U.S. backed out of a proposal with Poland that would have sent Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine, a jet model which Ukraine already possesses, after citing that not all NATO members were in agreement on the transfer.

The U.S. and NATO allies have repeatedly expressed their support for President Zelensky and arranged for transfers of military equipment to Ukraine but have yet to transfer fighter jets out of fears of escalating the war further.

The Russian Ministry of Defense warned that if warplanes from another country were sent to Ukraine, whether in a transfer to Ukraine’s military or as foreign intervention establishing a no-fly zone, Russia could consider the action “as those countries’ engagement in the military conflict.”

The United States' $800 million transfer of weaponry does not include jets but for the first time it does include the transfer of armed drones. President Biden said this transfer of drones totaling 100 in quantity “demonstrates our commitment to sending our most cutting-edge systems to Ukraine for defense.”

The Pentagon also announced it would be sending portable weaponry including 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 2,000 Javelins, 1,000 light anti-armor weapons and 6,000 AT-4 anti-armor systems.

Such weapons have played a pivotal role in Ukraine’s defense as its out-gunned ground forces combat Russian armored vehicles. 

Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, the U.S. has reportedly sent over $1 billion in military assistance to Ukraine.