The Biden administration has given its final injection of military support to Ukraine, unveiling a $500m weapons package just days before Donald Trump’s return to the White House threatens to upend western backing for Kyiv.
The aid bundle – including air defense missiles and F-16 fighter jet equipment – was announced on Thursday by outgoing US defense secretary Lloyd Austin during a summit at Germany’s Ramstein air base.
“Here is the fundamental truth: Ukraine’s fight matters to all of us,” Austin said. “Putin’s war is a challenge to free people everywhere.”
The announcement came as the White House scrambles to impose 11th-hour sanctions on Russia reportedly by week’s end, with Trump’s incoming Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, already promising a swift resolution to the conflict within his first 100 days in office.