U.S. provides Ukraine $7.9 billion in defense aid, including Patriot battery and long-range missiles

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the White House inform.

U.S. President Joe Biden has instructed the Department of Defense to disburse all remaining funds under the Security Assistance Initiative to Ukraine by the end of his term in office. According to him, Ukraine will receive the remaining funds by the end of this year.

Among other things, the United States provided Ukraine with an additional Patriot air defense battery, other air defense equipment and interceptors, drones, long-range missiles, air-to-ground munitions, and funds to strengthen Ukraine's defense industry.

The White House noted that, in particular, it will provide Ukraine with Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) cruise missiles capable of hitting targets at a distance of more than 130 km. 

“We will use this assistance in the most effective and transparent way to achieve our main common goal: Ukraine's victory, a just and lasting peace and transatlantic security,” Zelenskyy wrote.

In addition, the United States has expanded programs to train more Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16s and imposed sanctions on Russia.

“To counter Russian sanctions evasion and money laundering, the Department of Justice, the Department of the Treasury, and the U.S. Secret Service have taken action today to disrupt a global cryptocurrency network, in coordination with international partners. The United States will continue to raise the costs on Russia for its war in Ukraine and to deprive the Russian defense industrial base of resources,” the White House said in a statement.

Biden also said that next month he will convene a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany to coordinate the efforts of more than 50 countries that support Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression.

• In early September, Joe Biden's administration was in urgent talks with Congress to allow the use of $6 billion in military aid to Ukraine before the September 30 deadline. If the funds are not transferred by then, there is a risk of losing them.