Washington
\nThe United States has announced a military aid package worth six billion dollars for Ukraine. Addressing a news conference, the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said his country will also provide Patriot and ballistic missiles to Ukraine.
\nThe United States says it will supply Patriot air defence missile systems to Ukraine as part of a $6bn additional aid package, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Friday, calling it the largest security assistance package to Kyiv since Russia\u2019s invasion in 2022.
\nThe package is the second this week after President Joe Biden signed a much-delayed bill to provide a total of $61bn of new funding for Ukraine.
\nThe package also includes more munitions for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, or NASAMS, and additional gear to integrate Western air defence launchers, missiles and radars into Ukraine\u2019s existing weaponry, much of which still dates back to the Soviet era.
\nUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the need for Patriots early on Friday with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a coalition of about 50 countries gathering virtually in a Pentagon-led meeting.
\nThe meeting fell on the second anniversary of the group, which Austin said has \u201cmoved heaven and Earth\u201d since April 2022 to source millions of rounds of ammunition, rocket systems, armoured vehicles and even jets to help Ukraine rebuff Russia.
\nZelenskyy had said that at least seven Patriot systems are needed to protect Ukrainian cities.
\n\u201cWe urgently need Patriot systems and missiles for them,\u201d Zelenskyy said. \u201cThis is what can and should save lives right now.\u201d
\nSenior US officials have described dire battlefield conditions in Ukraine, as troops run low on munitions and Russian forces make gains.
\nAt a Pentagon news conference following the meeting, Austin said the US was working with allies to resource additional Patriot systems but did not commit to sending more US versions.
\nHe said he has been speaking one-on-one with a number of his European counterparts in recent days to hash out this issue and others.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s not just Patriots that they need, they need other types of systems and interceptors as well,\u201d Austin said. \u201cI would caution us all in terms of making Patriot the silver bullet.\u201d
\nAustin said he is asking allied nations to \u201caccept a little bit more risk\u201d as they consider what weapons to send to Ukraine.
\nA number of nations have expressed some reluctance to send Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine because most do not have very many, and they believe they need them for their own defence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Washington The United States has announced a military aid package worth six billion dollars for Ukraine. Addressing a news conference, the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said his country will also provide Patriot and ballistic missiles to Ukraine. The United States says it will supply Patriot air defence missile systems to Ukraine as part of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-403188","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n