The United States announced today, Monday, that it will send new security assistance to Ukraine worth $200 million. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in a press release that the assistance includes air defense ammunition, artillery, anti-armor equipment, and additional devices to support mine-clearing efforts.
Two U.S. officials told Reuters last Monday that they will begin disbursing $6.2 billion from funds discovered after an accounting error at the Pentagon led to an overestimation of Ukraine aid by billions of dollars. The U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) stated in May that it had mistakenly allocated a higher value than permitted for sending Ukrainian aid when staff used "replacement cost" instead of "consumable cost" for scheduling ammunition, missiles, and other equipment sent to Ukraine worth billions.
Ukraine requires weapons that can be shipped from U.S. stockpiles within days or weeks to fend off the Russian invasion. The accounting error benefits Kyiv as it allows for the dispatch of additional equipment. The officials noted that commencing the use of this discovered funding is significant as it represents the last installment of an amount previously authorized by Congress for the presidential withdrawal authority of $25.5 billion that the administration can use to send weapons from American stockpiles in an emergency. They also mentioned that Washington is currently working on a supplemental budget request to continue supporting Kyiv.
