President Joe Biden is set to meet with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday.
President Joe Biden on Sept. 26 announced his administration will spend nearly $8 billion to help Ukraine fight against Russia, the latest mammoth expenditure the United States has pledged since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
The aid will help Ukraine “win this war,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
The aid includes the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb called the Joint Standoff Weapon, with a range of up to 81 miles. The medium-range missile gives Ukraine a major upgrade to the weapons it is using to strike Russian forces, allowing the Ukrainians to do it at safer distances. The bomb, capable of striking targets with high accuracy, is to be dropped from fighter jets.
The president, who is set to exit in January 2025 after pulling out of the 2024 race, said he’s directed the Pentagon to use $5.5 billion that Congress previously allocated before the money expires in several days.
The administration is also spending $2.4 billion under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows the administration to buy weapons for Ukraine from companies rather than pull them from U.S. stocks.
The money will help Ukraine bolster its air defenses and air-to-ground capabilities, Biden said.
The president has also told military officials to provide Ukraine with more Patriot missiles, additional Patriot air defense battery, and more training for F-16 pilots.
“I want peace for my people—real peace and just peace,” he said.
Biden said he was proud to welcome Zelenskyy back to the White House.
Trump has been criticizing the Ukrainian president as he campaigns for the Nov. 5 election and, at least for now, turned down a request from Zelenskyy for a meeting.
Trump told a rally in North Carolina on Wednesday that “we continue to give billions of dollars to a man who refused to make a deal, Zelenskyy.”
“It is proposed that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state, be considered as their joint attack on the Russian Federation,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the changes should be considered a signal to the United States and other Western countries.
“This is a signal that warns these countries about the consequences if they participate in an attack on our country by various means, and not necessarily nuclear ones,” Peskov said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
