This is the 10th tranche of assistance to Ukraine since Congress passed a $60.8 billion bill in April to provide supplemental assistance to Kyiv.
The United States announced on Aug. 9 it is sending $125 million in military assistance to Ukraine.
According to the Pentagon, the package includes but is not limited to multi-mission radars, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, javelin systems, ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), small arms ammunition, high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV) ambulances, Stinger missiles, and demolition equipment and munitions.
The announcement comes as Ukraine has invaded the western Russian city of Kursk, while Russia has made slow progress in the Eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.
Russia will “start to realize that the war is slowly creeping inside of Russian territory,” said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s senior adviser, Myhailo Podolyak, on Aug. 8.
“When will it be possible to conduct a negotiation process in the way that we can push them or get something from them?“ he asked. ”Only when the war is not going on according to their scenarios.”
In a call with reporters on Aug. 9, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby sidestepped the question of whether the United States is fine with this incursion.
“We’re in touch with our Ukrainian counterparts, and we are working to gain a better understanding of what they’re doing, what their goals are, what their strategy is,” he said. “And I’m going to leave a little bit of space for us to have those conversations before I try to characterize what’s going on.”
Kirby added that there is no change in U.S. policy on how Ukraine can use U.S. weapons. That policy limits Ukraine in terms of where Ukraine can strike inside Russia with U.S. weapons.
“The ability to be able to fire back when fired upon is really what this policy is focused on… as we see Russian forces firing across the border, the ability for Ukraine to fire back at those ground forces using U.S.-provided munitions,” Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said in June.
After all, he said, “It’s self-defense and so it makes sense for them to be able to do that.”
The new assistance also comes shortly after U.S.-made F-16s arrived in Ukraine, thanks to Denmark and Holland.
While Zelenskyy expressed appreciation for the fighter jets, he said, “the number that is available in Ukraine and the number of pilots who have already been trained is not enough.”
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.