Pentagon vows commitment to delivering military aid to Ukraine without delays

US Defense chief Lloyd Austin has assured that they are trying to transfer the equipment to Ukraine as soon as possible. Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on partners to step up provision of military aid before winter sets in, which will complicate hostilities.

Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Adam Smith, who recently met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv, said that the Ukrainian authorities consider the next 3-6 weeks to be crucial and call for the provision of weapons as much as possible. Falling temperatures and brutal conditions will slow the fighting down to a war of attrition that will mostly benefit Russia.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke by telephone on July 26 with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov regarding the outcome of the recent Ramstein-4 meeting, including the US commitment to deliver additional HIMARS.

"Secretary Austin reassured Minister Reznikov that the United States is moving as quickly as possible to deliver equipment to Ukraine," the Pentagon press service reported.

What's in the new package?

The United States announced a new $270 million military aid package to Ukraine on July 22: about $175 million for equipment that was removed from the U.S. military stockpile by presidential order, and $95 million for equipment under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.

In particular, there are additional HIMARS systems in this package. In total, Ukraine will have more than 20 HIMARS long-range missile systems: 16 from the United States and 4 more from other partner countries. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine previously stated that the country needs at least 50 HIMARS and M270 artillery systems to effectively deter Russian forces, and at least 100 for an effective counteroffensive.