US lawmakers approve additional $800 mn aid for Ukraine, Russia reacts

In accordance with the Fiscal 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA that authorizes the additional spending for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, US lawmakers on Wednesday agreed to provide $800 million in additional security assistance to Ukraine spread across the year 2023. They also approved a package to boost Taiwan's defenses in view of the Chinese regional threats with billions in the upcoming several years. An $858 billion defense policy bill was unveiled by the Biden administration. 

Under the Pacific Deterrence Initiative, the US also approved an estimated $11.5 billion in new investments for self-administered Taiwan by authorizing the Taiwan Enhanced Resilience Act of 2022. The act seeks to bolster the security cooperation of the United States with Taiwan by providing an estimated $10 billion over the period of five years.

The new $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine pushed the total US financial aid to Ukraine to $1 billion this month, and a total of $2 billion since the Biden Administration took over the office and Russia launched its brutal invasion of Kyiv. Russia, meanwhile reacted to the US military aid spending bill, saying that it is a “provocation towards our country”

US authorized third-party transfers of defensive equipment

According to the US Department of Defense, the new assistance will take the form of direct transfers of equipment from the Department of Defense to the Ukrainian military for countering Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of their country. The US has authorized third-party transfers of defensive equipment from more than 14 countries. 

"United States continues to expedite the authorization and facilitation of additional assistance to Ukraine from our Allies. At least 30 countries have provided security assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began," the White House informed in a release. 

The package includes 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 2,000 Javelin, 1,000 light anti-armor weapons, and 6,000 AT-4 anti-armor systems, 100 Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems, 100 grenade launchers, 5,000 rifles, 1,000 pistols, 400 machine guns, and 400 shotguns to defend the Ukrainian territorial integrity against Russian assaults. It also includes over 20 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenade launcher and a mortar round, and 25,000 sets of body armor as well as 25,000 helmets for the Ukrainian troop.

These rounds of weapons are in addition to the US-produced short-range air defense systems that are proving to be effective against the invading Russian forces, said the US DoD. The US is also helping the Ukrainians acquire additional, longer-range systems on which Ukraine’s forces are already trained, as well as additional munitions for those systems, it further noted.