U.S. Prepares Massive New Surge of Military Aid to Ukraine

 The Biden administration is preparing a military assistance package of roughly $750 million for Ukraine in its battles against Russian invaders, people familiar with the matter said Tuesday night. 

© Photographer: SERGEY BOBOK/AFP A serviceman of Ukrainian military forces holds a light anti-tank rocket launcher at a checkpoint, where they hold a position near Kharkiv on March 23, 2022.

The weapons and other equipment are expected to be sent under presidential drawdown authority, which allows President Joe Biden to transfer equipment from U.S. stocks without congressional approval in order to speed up delivery during an emergency.

The types of weapons in the package are still being discussed and are not yet finalized, added the people, who requested anonymity to discuss the assistance before it was announced.

The move comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to continue pursuing the war and Biden accused him of committing genocide.

The U.S. has provided more than $2.4 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Biden took office. Of that, more than $1.7 billion was delivered after the invasion began on Feb. 24.

The plan for enhanced military aid was reported earlier by Reuters and the Washington Post. 

Ukraine has repeatedly asked the U.S. and European nations to increase weapons shipments as it braces for a new offensive by Russian forces in the country’s east after they were forced to pull back from areas around Kyiv. 

But the U.S. continues to reject pleas from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to provide fighter jets on the grounds that would bring about a direct U.S.-Russia confrontation and heighten the risk of world war.

On Tuesday, Biden for the first time said Russia had carried out genocide in Ukraine. 

He made the allegation during a speech in Iowa that laid out steps to lower fuel costs that have surged during the war. He later stood by his comments. “Yes, I called it genocide because it has become clearer and clearer that Putin is just trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be Ukrainian,” the president told reporters before departing Iowa.   

He added that lawyers would ultimately make the official determination.

Putin said earlier Tuesday that peace negotiations were “at a dead end” and vowed to continue Russia’s invasion. At at a joint press conference at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Russian Far East with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said the nearly seven-week offensive was going “according to plan.”