Pentagon chief announces $6 billion arms package for Ukraine

On Friday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced new arms purchases for Ukraine worth $6 billion. He made this statement during a briefing on the results of the Ramstein 21, as quoted by UNN.

I'm also pleased to announce today an additional commitment of $6 billion through our Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, that will allow us to procure new capabilities for Ukraine from U.S. industry. This is the largest security assistance package that we've committed to date.

Details

Earlier, senior Pentagon officials confirmed to Voice of America that

The United States will purchase $6 billion worth of new weapons for Ukraine, including vehicles, interceptors for the Patriot and NASAMS air defense systems, as well as artillery ammunition, weapons to combat UAVs, and air-to-ground missiles for fighter jets.

We are working to provide this equipment to Ukraine as soon as possible... We have weapons storage facilities in Europe, which significantly reduces the time it takes to deliver these weapons to Ukraine. It won't be immediate, but it will be pretty quick. And we expect the situation in Ukraine to improve significantly.

Austin also emphasized that one of the most important issues is to provide Ukraine with air defense systems, and added that these should be different systems.

Ukraine urgently needs more air defense systems, it urgently needs more interceptor missiles. This will be a huge priority for all of us today.

Austin once again reminded the allies that the war in Ukraine is a matter of global security. He added that the allies realize the priority of providing military assistance to Ukraine.

The outcome in Ukraine will determine the trajectory of our times. If Putin prevails in Ukraine, the security consequence will be grave and global Europe would face a security threat that it hasn't seen in our lifetimes.