US offers additional defensive support to Ukraine and Taiwan

The United States will provide Ukraine with an additional $100 million (about 92 million euros) in “security assistance,” Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said on Tuesday. The Ukrainians will be provided with additional anti-armor systems, among other things.

On Friday, the US Department of Defense announced that it would allocate an additional $300 million for additional military aid to Ukraine. That money will be spent on laser-guided missile systems, drones, armored vehicles, machine guns and satellite services, among other things. The $100 million announced Tuesday will be added to this.

In total, President Joe Biden’s administration has made more than $2.4 billion available to bolster Ukraine’s armed forces. Most of that money, more than $1.7 billion, has been pledged since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.

The US will also provide additional military support to Taiwan, the Defense Ministry said on Tuesday. This will not be done in the form of a gift as to Ukraine, but through the sale of a package consisting of training, planning, fielding, deployment, operation, maintenance and upkeep of the Taiwanese air defense system (‘Patriot Air Defense System’). The sale is worth about $95 million.