White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that during today's meeting between President Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the United States will announce a new military aid package for Ukraine. According to him, it will not include long-range ATACMS missiles, which Kyiv has been asking for for a long time.
Source. This was reported by the journalist of the Voice of America Ostap Yarysh.
Sullivan said that the next aid package will focus on air defense equipment that will allow Ukraine to withstand such attacks on critical infrastructure as occurred on the night of September 21.
"These assets will help Ukraine strengthen its defenses before the winter, which promises to be difficult and filled with new Russian attacks on Ukrainian critical infrastructure. In this way, Russia is trying to deprive ordinary Ukrainians of essentials like heating and electricity," Sullivan said.
In response to a question about the supply of long-range missiles, Sullivan said that President Biden "as of today has decided that he will not provide ATACMS, but has not taken it off the table."
Sullivan added that the new package would also include weapons designed to help Ukraine maintain the momentum of its counteroffensive. Among other things, he mentioned additional ammunition for HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, armor-piercing weapons, artillery shells, and more cluster munitions.
Tonight, Biden is to begin talks with Zelenskiy at the White House. This will be their sixth face-to-face meeting and Zelenskyy's third visit to Washington during the current US administration.
Background. Republican Speaker McCarthy reportedly refused to allow Zelenskyy to speak at a joint session of Congress.