Biden announces new $2 billion aid package for Ukraine. It includes a Patriot missile battery - White House

The White House has confirmed the provision of military aid to Ukraine for about $2 billion. US President Joe Biden will announce it on December 21.

The package "will contain a very important new capability: a Patriot missile battery, which will be a critical asset to defend the Ukrainian people against Russia’s barbaric attacks on Ukraine’s critical infrastructure. We will train Ukrainian forces on how to operate the Patriot missile battery in a third country. This will take some time, but Ukrainian troops will take that training back to their country to operate this battery," Washington says.

Earlier, the Associated Press reported that the United States will send Ukraine, in addition to Patriot, high-precision guided bombs for fighter jets. According to the newspaper, the package will include weapons from the Pentagon's stockpiles worth about $1 billion. Ukraine will receive another $800 million through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, an initiative that finances weapons, ammunition, training and other assistance.

In turn, Politico claims that the Ukrainian delegation in Washington will ask Biden to transfer ATACMS systems and Gray Eagle and Reaper drones to Ukraine.

"During the meeting with Biden and his national security team, the Ukrainian delegation is expected to make another round of pleas for long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, and Grey Eagle and Reaper drones, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The person and others were granted anonymity to describe internal discussions," the report said.

• Earlier it became known that the administration of US President Joe Biden is finalizing plans to send the Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine, which may be announced this week.

• The West also discusses providing Ukraine with weapons for "preemptive strikes" and creating a "decisive advantage" over Russia.

• On December 16, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba did not directly confirm Washington's agreement to provide Ukraine with Patriot missile defense systems, but advised to wait for an official announcement from the White House, saying that "everything impossible is possible."