Biden trying to ‘put Ukraine in the strongest possible position’ with new aid package, White House says

By Nikki Carvajal and Jennifer Hansler, CNN

(CNN) — The Biden administration is rushing assistance to Ukraine in an effort to put Kyiv “in the strongest possible position” as Russia steps up its attacks and President Joe Biden prepares to leave office in less than two months.

“Today, we are announcing a $725 million security assistance package for Ukraine, which includes substantial quantities of artillery, rockets, and air defense capabilities,” national security adviser Jake Sullivan wrote in a statement. “The President has directed the Department of Defense to deliver the materiel to Ukraine rapidly — to ensure that Ukraine has the equipment it needs to defend itself.”

Sullivan wrote that, between December and mid-January, “we will deliver hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of additional rockets, and other critical capabilities to help Ukraine defend its freedom and independence.”

The statement twice refers to putting “Ukrainian forces in the strongest possible position” before Biden’s term ends.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken first made the announcement earlier Monday. The new tranche of military assistance includes Stinger missiles, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and anti-personnel landmines.

Blinken arrived in Brussels on Tuesday morning for his last meeting of the NATO foreign ministers. The top US diplomat said his country was determined to support Ukraine and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of “once again weaponizing winter, trying to freeze people out of their homes.”

In a speech earlier Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte highlighted how Ukraine is entering “another crucial winter,” while aggression from Russia and Putin show “no sign of abating.”

“Putin is not interested in peace. He is pressing on, trying to take more territory because he thinks he can break Ukraine’s resolve and ours,” Rutte said. “But he is wrong. Ukraine has a right to defend itself, and we have a duty to help them.”

The provision of the military aid is part of a larger strategy to bolster Ukraine, which has been complemented by shifts in policies on the provision of antipersonnel land mines and Kyiv’s use of US-provided long-range weapons.

Still, two US officials and three defense officials told CNN last week that the Pentagon is unlikely to use all of the billions of dollars authorized by Congress to arm Ukraine before Biden leaves office.

The administration has fewer than two months left to use nearly $7 billion, part of a larger package authorized by Congress earlier this year to help Ukraine in the war with Russia. The funding allows the Defense Department to draw from its own stockpiles to send weapons, but shortages have limited how much the US can send to Kyiv in recent months.

For months, the US has run into the limits of its ability to replenish its own weapons inventories, which limited what the Biden administration has been able to send Ukraine. The US has been growing its capacity to produce critical munitions, such as 155mm artillery shells, since virtually the beginning of the war nearly three years ago, but the ramp up in production is not yet complete.

State Department officials briefed Congress in November that the administration is still working to allocate the remaining funds, according to a congressional source familiar with the matter.

CNN’s Duarte Mendonça, Natasha Bertrand, Oren Liebermann, Katie Bo Lillis and Alex Marquardt contributed to this report.

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