United States President Joe Biden is set to announce a further $800 million fund that will be used to provide military aid to Ukraine amid Russia's continued unprovoked invasion, bringing the total to $1 billion in just the last week.
The U.S. security assistance will include anti-tank missiles and additional defensive weapons that the American government has been providing Ukraine, including Javelin anti-tank and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles. However, the assistance will stop short of a no-fly zone or fighter jets that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously requested.
Military Aid to Ukraine
Zelensky said that the no-fly zone and additional fighter aircraft were needed in Ukraine's fight against Russian forces. The news of the military aid comes as the White House continues to face off against pressure from both Congress and the Ukrainian president to provide assistance to Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president is scheduled to address U.S. members of Congress on Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. remotely. Zelensky is expected to discuss the situation of his country and renew his calls for more international assistance, as per CNN.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in an interview last week that the intelligence community has assessed that the transfer of MiG-29s could be taken as an escalatory move. The official warned that doing so could result in a significant Russian reaction that could worsen the situation. Kirby was referring to Ukraine's request for MiG fighter jets from Poland to fight against Moscow's troops.
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On Tuesday, Zelensky made similar requests for assistance to the Canadian Parliament where he took it a step further by making an appeal for Canadian lawmakers to push for a no-fly zone over Ukraine. In his remarks, the Ukrainian president raised the thought of Canadian facilities being bombed like how his country was being attacked by the Russians.
Russia-Ukraine War
According to Fox News, the official continued that he and his people wanted to live and be victorious against the Russian troops. "Can you imagine when you call your friends and nations, and you ask to please close the sky, close the airspace, please stop the bombing? How many more cruise missiles have to fall on our cities until you make this happen?"
Furthermore, while the White House is discussing the possibility of deploying more troops to Europe to bolster the 15,000 that have been there since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, Biden is not expected to order such a move any time soon.
On Tuesday, the Democratic leader said that his administration was moving quickly to bolster the support given to the people of Ukraine. While he did not provide details of such assistance, he said he would be revealing more information at a later time.
In recent days, senators and members of the House of Representatives of both Democrats and Republicans have urged the Biden administration to provide support troops to Ukraine. In response, Pentagon officials said that there were some forms of support that could be detrimental to Ukraine and risk the U.S. slipping into direct conflict with Russia within Ukraine, the Wall Street Journal reported.
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