The U.S. Department of Defense announced another $1 billion in long-term aid to Ukraine on Saturday, as a Pentagon fund designed to support the war effort is running dry.
In a press release, the Pentagon said the new aid package includes $988 million from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a fund that had a little over $2 billion left before the announcement. Also included in the aid package are drones and munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.
The funds from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative will not be used to deplete existing U.S. weapons stockpiles but instead will be used to buy weapons from defense contractors like Lockheed Martin.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the new aid package at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California on Saturday. He also alluded to the incoming Trump administration, saying, "The baton will soon be passed. Others will decide the course ahead. And I hope that they will build on the strength that we have forged over the past four years.”
President-elect Donald Trump has long vowed to end the Russia-Ukraine war. He recently tapped retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg as his Ukraine-Russia envoy, who will be tasked with trying to secure a negotiated end to the nearly three-year war.
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The new aid package follows another $725 million in aid announced earlier this week that included counter-drone systems and HIMARS munitions. That aid will be drawn from U.S. stockpiles in order to quickly get to the front lines.
The United States has provided more than $62 billion in aid to Ukraine since the start of the war in February 2022.