(CNN) According to a US official familiar with the package, the US will announce a $1.2 billion aid package for Ukraine as early as Tuesday as Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces looms.
The package will include drones, artillery shells and air defense missiles, among other capabilities, the official said.
The package, first reported by The Associated Press, will fall under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), meaning it will be contracted and purchased from manufacturers rather than pulled directly from DoD inventories in a drawdown to become. Instead of supplying Ukraine with the weapons it currently needs, USAI packages are intended to provide medium and long-term supplies to Ukraine.
With the announcement of the new package, the US will have pledged $37.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine since the Biden administration began, including $36.9 billion since the war began in February 2022.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said in late April that the Ukrainian military was almost done with preparations for its counter-offensive against Russian forces. When it launches, it will mark a significant shift in the conflict.
Modern Western tanks, including German Leopard 2 tanks and British Challenger 2 tanks, have arrived in Ukraine along with other armored vehicles such as American Bradley and Stryker vehicles.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said two weeks ago that 98 percent of the combat vehicles promised to Ukraine had been delivered, totaling more than 1,500 vehicles and 230 tanks.
Ukrainian officials remain silent on exactly when they will launch their expected spring offensive or which areas they will target. Ukraine’s Ambassador to Britain Vadym Prystaiko said last week they would not openly signal Russia when the offensive would begin, although he acknowledged the weather had delayed the military’s plans.
But even after Ukraine’s counteroffensive begins, the US will continue to send military aid to Ukraine, both to support Ukrainian forces against entrenched Russian troops and to provide new equipment, according to a US military official. For example, the US has not yet offered Ukrainian forces training on M1A1 Abrams tanks, a powerful weapon that will give Kiev another powerful military option but will require several months of training.
To date, nearly 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers have completed various forms of training with the US, the official said, including advanced maneuver training and specific programs for individual weapon systems.
