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WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The United States plans to announce more than $8 billion worth of military assistance for Ukraine on Thursday during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to Washington, two U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

President Joe Biden’s administration has been engaged in urgent discussions with Congress to allow it to use up $5.6 billion in military aid for Ukraine before Sept. 30 - the end of the federal fiscal year - when the authority was set to expire.

On Thursday, U.S. officials said, the White House intends to notify Congress it will move forward with the announcement of a $5.6 billion drawdown from U.S. weapons stocks. The contents of that package are still in flux, the officials said.

Reuters reported this month that the Biden administration was considering a backup plan under which it would announce plans for shipments for Ukraine, but with an extended delivery timeline for the weapons and equipment, allowing for a more gradual transfer of resources to Ukraine without missing the Sept. 30 deadline.

A second announcement slated for Thursday will be for $2.4 billion worth of aid under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative program, which allows the administration to buy weapons for Ukraine from companies rather than pull them from U.S. stocks.

That aid will include munitions, weapons to combat drones and material to support munitions production in Ukraine, one of the U.S. officials said.

In addition, the U.S. announced on Wednesday $375 million worth of Presidential Drawdown Authority for Ukraine. The package will include the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb with a range of up to 81 miles (130 km) called the Joint Standoff Weapon, two U.S. officials said. The inclusion of that weapon was not disclosed in the announcement.

    • Buffalox@lemmy.worldEnglish
      92·
      2 months ago

      Exactly! Putin wants all occupied territory plus territory they haven’t even conquered, like all of the Kherson region, including the city that is under Ukrainian control. And they want Zelenskyj removed, which translates to Russian puppet government.

    • Krono@lemmy.todayEnglish
      210·
      2 months ago

      According to the New York Times, the initial Russian demands were

      Ukrainian recognition of its annexation of Crimea in 2014, permanent Ukrainian neutrality, and autonomy for the ethnic Russian provinces, or oblasts, in eastern and southeastern Ukraine

      In return, Ukrainian demands were

      Russia be held accountable for war atrocities, withdraw from all captured Ukraine territory, including Crimea, and pay reparations.

      As negotiations progressed, both sides made concessions over the status of Crimea, the allowed positions of Russian troops, and the status of Ukraine in regards to NATO and its nuclear nonproliferation.

      Then, the west put its finger on the scale and ended the negotiations.

        • Krono@lemmy.todayEnglish
          24·
          2 months ago

          Yes of course Putin wants as much land as he can get.

          I’m also saying that, if the deal had been reached in spring 2022, Ukraine would control more territory than it currently controls now. And there would be at least 100,000 more Ukrainians alive that wouldnt have been sacrificed to Putin’s meat grinder. Thousands of murdered Ukrainian civilians would still be alive.

          • Plastic_Ramses@lemmy.worldEnglish
            4·
            2 months ago

            Something something no nukes, no attack. Yada yada yada.

            Surely you can see that putin is not an honorable man. Or at least not honorable enough to keep his governments word.

            • Krono@lemmy.todayEnglish
              11·
              2 months ago

              Of course, any deal that relies simply on Putin’s word isn’t worth the paper its printed on.

              Well-designed peace deals never rely on honor. They rely on mutual benefit, verification, with agreed-upon punishments for failure.