US preparing additional $800m in military aid for Ukraine: Report

The United States is readying about $800m of additional military aid to Ukraine and could announce the plan as soon as Friday, three sources familiar with the matter have told the Reuters news agency.

US President Joe Biden would authorise the assistance using his Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the president to approve the transfer of excess weapons from US stocks, the sources told Reuters.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that an announcement could slip into next week, and cautioned that weapons packages can change in value before they are announced.

The White House declined to comment.

Since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February, in what Russian President Vladimir Putin termed a “special military operation,” the conflict has settled into a war of attrition fought primarily in the east and south of Ukraine.

Washington has sent billions of dollars in security assistance to Kyiv, with weaponry including high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), mortar and artillery ammunition, Javelin anti-tank missile systems, explosives and demolition equipment.

Reuters did not elaborate on what might be included in the latest package.