WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed legislation authorising $61 billion in military aid for Ukraine, with the Pentagon quickly announcing a new $1 billion package headed for Kyiv, featuring desperately needed air defence and artillery munitions.

The legislation — which also includes aid for Israel and Taiwan and a potential ban on TikTok — comes after months of delay that saw Ukrainian forces run short of ammunition and suffer battlefield setbacks.

“I just signed into law the national security package that was passed by the House of Representatives this weekend, and by the Senate yesterday,” Biden told reporters, saying he is “making sure the shipments start right away, in the next few hours.” “It’s going to make America safer, it’s going to make the world safter and it continues American leadership in the world and everyone knows it,” he said of the legislation.

“It gives vital support to America’s partners so they can defend themselves against threats to their sovereignty and to the lives and freedoms of their citizens.”

The Pentagon quickly announced a $1 billion package for Kyiv using the new funding, including air defence munitions, artillery rounds, ammunition for HIMARS precision rocket launchers, anti-tank weapons and armored vehicles.

The aid legislation — valued at a total of $95 billion — only passed the House of Representatives after months of acrimonious debate among lawmakers over how or even whether to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s invasion, which it launched in February 2022.

A similar aid package passed the Senate in February, but had been stalled in the House while Republican Speaker Mike Johnson — heeding calls from ex-president Donald Trump and his hardline allies — demanded concessions from Biden on immigration policies, before a sudden reversal.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2024