NEW YORK, United States
United States President, Joe Biden on Thursday announced a series of measures to help Ukraine as it fights the Russian invasion, among other things inviting 50 Kyiv allies to a meeting in Germany next month to coordinate aid.
"I will convene a
leader-level meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany next month
to coordinate the efforts of the more than 50 countries supporting Ukraine in
its defense against Russian aggression," he said in a statement.
The Ukraine
Defense Contact Group is an alliance including all 32
NATO member states and the European Union, among others, that has
been holding monthly meetings since mid-2022 to organize military support for
Ukraine.
Biden's announcement comes as
Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy is in the US, where he will meet on Thursday with
the president and Democratic and Republican leaders.
Ahead of his meeting with
Zelenskyy, Biden said Washington was providing a "surge" in
assistance to Ukraine.
The "surge" includes
nearly $8 billion (€7.2 billion) in military aid and new long-range munitions.
"Today, I am announcing a
surge in security assistance for Ukraine and a series of additional actions to
help Ukraine win this war," Biden said in his statement.
Under his plan, the president
said, the US Defense Department would also provide Ukraine with an additional
Patriot air defense battery and more Patriot missiles.
Zelenskyy has thanked Biden
and the US Congress for the military aid package, saying Ukraine would use it
"in the most efficient and transparent manner."
"I am grateful to
the United States for providing the items that are most critical to protecting
our people," Zelenskyy said on X, formerly Twitter.
Biden did not, however, make
any mention of giving Kyiv permission to fire US long-range missiles into
Russia, something that the Ukrainian leadership has been calling for for
months.
The aid does, however,
include the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb called the
Joint Standoff Weapon, with a range of up to 81 miles (130 km). The
medium-range missile, which is dropped from fighter jets, represents a major
upgrade to the weapons Kyiv is using to strike Russian forces.
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