The Biden administration is taking steps to speed up the delivery of arms packages to Ukraine, ensuring their arrival before the potential inauguration of Donald Trump.
CNN reported this on Friday, citing a senior Biden administration official, according to Ukrinform.
“The Biden administration is working to surge deliveries of weapons to Ukraine in its final days in office in a concerted effort to put Kyiv on a strong footing going into 2025, ” the report states.
This acceleration comes in response to statements by President-elect Trump, who has sharply criticized allowing Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied missiles to strike targets in Russia. According to the official, the Biden team is making every effort to ensure that Kyiv receives all previously announced arms packages before Biden leaves office.
“DoD is undertaking a historic effort to move massive quantities of weapons into Ukraine in the next five weeks,” the senior administration official said. “Between now and mid-January, we will deliver to Ukraine hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets, hundreds of armored vehicles, and other critical capabilities.”
An interagency effort to deliver the weapons is being led by national security adviser Jake Sullivan, the senior official said. In November, Sullivan told Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on behalf of the president to “accelerate” the deliveries of armored vehicles, rockets, artillery and more to Ukraine. The Pentagon is now conducting sealifts and airlifts to meet the delivery deadline.
As reported by Ukrinform, in a recent interview with the Time magazine, Donald Trump stated that he “categorically” disagrees with the Biden administration’s decision to allow Ukraine to strike deep inside Russia using U.S.-supplied weapons. Trump argued that this approach only escalates the war and exacerbates its consequences.
Source: Biden Administration accelerates arms deliveries to Ukraine amid Trump's statements – CNN
