White House Names Priority Weapons for Future US Aid to Ukraine

The Biden administration has called strengthening Ukraine's air defence a priority in future military aid packages that Washington is ready to provide to Kyiv.

John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the White House, said at a briefing that the US considers air defence assets a priority on the list of weapons for which the White House wants to receive additional funding from Congress.

"Air defence would be top of the list," he said.

He pointed out that the most effective response to Russia's horrific violence against the Ukrainian people is to continue to provide Kyiv with vital air defence assets and other military equipment. 

"To do that, we need Congress to approve our supplemental funding request for Ukraine without delay," he added.

Earlier, the White House announced that the US had no money for further military aid for Ukraine until the approval of a new package by the US Congress.

Prior to that, US President Joe Biden, commenting on the large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine on the night of 29-30 December, stressed that Congress needed to approve additional aid for Ukraine as soon as possible.

On 27 December the US announced a US$250 million military package for Ukraine, the last one in 2023.

In October 2023,  Biden asked Congress to approve supplementary funding, specifically over US$60 billion for Ukraine. But this has been stuck in the Senate due to disagreements between Republicans and Democrats concerning the security of the US-Mexican border.