US announces new $225M weapons package for Ukraine, including Patriots

US President Joe Biden has announced a new $225 million aid package for Ukraine, including a Patriot missile system to bolster its air defences against Russian air strikes.

Biden made the announcement during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, who called the announcement "strong news" but pressed that for the immediate future, what the Ukrainians also need is US permission to fire the long-range missiles it has provided at targets deeper inside Russia.

The Patriot air defence system, the second the US has provided to Ukraine, is one of several Biden announced this week at the NATO summit and is part of a swell of pledges to get weapons to Ukraine to help it fend off Russian attacks, including one this week that reportedly hit a children’s hospital in Kiev.

The $225 million package also includes Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and more 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, among other munitions.

Zelenskyy late last month pleaded for additional US-made Patriot systems, arguing that they will help his forces fight the close to 3,000 bombs that he said Russia launches into the country every month.

Other air defence systems

On Tuesday, through a joint statement the US, Germany and Romania said they would provide Ukraine with Patriot batteries, while the Netherlands and others will provide Patriot components to make up one more battery and Italy will provide a SAMP-T air defence system.

Other allies, including Canada, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom, will provide a number of other systems that will help Ukraine expand its coverage. Those systems include NASAMS, HAWKs, IRIS T-SLM, IRIS T-SLS and Gepards. And other nations have agreed to provide munitions for those systems.

The additional US Patriot system will be paid for through presidential drawdown authority, which allows the military to pull the system directly from its stocks and quickly get it to Ukraine.

In addition, last week the US pledged $150 million in weapons to be pulled directly from its stocks, including air defence interceptors, artillery and other fires, and anti-tank weapons.

It also pledged $2.2 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds, a mechanism used to put longer-term weapons systems on order, including Patriot missiles and NASAM air defence systems.