US announces $2 billion in military aid to Europe

The United States has announced major new military aid worth more than $2 billion to Ukraine and other European countries threatened by Russia.

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the Biden administration would provide $2 billion in long-term military aid to Ukraine and its 18 neighbors, including NATO members and regional security partners “most likely to risk future Russian aggression.”

This is a $675 million supply of heavy weapons, ammunition and armored vehicles for Ukraine announced by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at a meeting in Germany earlier on Thursday.

The donations bring the total U.S. government aid to Ukraine to $15.2 billion since taking office.

Officials said the new pledge was designed to show that U.S. support for the country was unwavering in the face of a Russian incursion.

Fighting between Ukraine and Russia has intensified in recent days, with Ukrainian troops launching a counteroffensive to retake Russian-held areas in the south and east.

A day after shelling continued near Ukraine’s Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, the warring sides renewed their finger-pointing amid a dire warning from the United Nations atomic energy watchdog to create a safe zone to prevent disaster.

In addition, on Wednesday, the United States accused Moscow of interrogating, detaining and forcibly deporting hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to Russia.

Russian officials immediately denied the claim was a “fantasy”.