The Biden administration will be appropriating an additional $500 million for Ukraine to further fuel the conflict with Russia, taking advantage of this lame duck period as Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated as next President in just 11 days.
Biden Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin made the announcement during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Austin made the case that the welfare and the weapons must continue to flow to Ukraine during the next administration.
“If Putin swallows Ukraine, his appetite will only grow,” Austin said. “If autocrats conclude that democracies will lose their nerve, surrender their interests, and forget their principles, we will only see more land grabs. If tyrants learn that aggression pays, we will only invite even more aggression, chaos, and war.”
Following this transfer, Trump will able to give $3.85 billion in future arms shipments to Ukraine through the presidential drawdown authority (PDA), which depletes U.S. reserves to send to foreigners. Zelensky is lobbying hard to keep getting the assistance he needs to prop up his nation’s doomed war effort when Trump is in office.
As per the agreement, the U.S. will transfer fighter jet missiles, support equipment for F-16 fighter jets and armored vehicle-launched bridge weapons as well as small arms, spare parts, and communications apparel to Ukraine.
“We’ve come such a long way that it would honestly be crazy to drop the ball now and not keep building on the defense coalitions we’ve created,” Zelensky said. “No matter what’s going on in the world, everyone wants to feel sure that their country will not just be erased of the map.”
“Retreat will only provide incentives for more imperial aggression,” Austin said during the press conference. “And if we flinch, you can count on Putin to push further and punch harder. Ukraine’s survival is on the line. But so is the security of Europe, the United States, and the world.”
As of right now, the U.S. has given approximately $66 billion of the total aid given to Ukraine since Feb. 2022. That money, of course, has been soaked up by corrupt government officials like Zelensky and the rest of his cabal while enriching soulless defense contractors who profit from death and destruction. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers are thrown needlessly into the meat grinder. This is the world the military-industrial complex has created.