Biden authorizes $1.3 billion more for Ukraine…

Pres. Biden’s new $800 million military aid package to Ukraine includes:

– Heavy artillery weapons
– Dozens of howitzers
– 144,000 rounds of ammunition
– More tactical drones pic.twitter.com/8WqFDZkWhg

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 21, 2022

U.S. taxpayers will pay for Ukraine salaries and pensions

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden pledged an additional $1.3 billion Thursday for new weapons and economic assistance to help Ukraine and he promised to seek additional funding from Congress to keep the guns, ammunition and cash flowing. The latest military aid, Biden said, will be sent “directly to the front lines of freedom.”

“Putin is banking on us losing interest,” Biden said. The Russian president is betting that “Western unity will crack and once again we’re going to prove him wrong.”

The new package includes $800 million in military aid for heavy artillery, 144,000 rounds of ammunition and drones for the escalating battle in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. It builds on roughly $2.6 billion in military assistance that Biden previously approved.

There’s also a fresh $500 million in direct economic assistance to Ukraine for government salaries, pensions and other programs.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his gratitude to the United States in his nightly address in Ukraine, saying the military aid was “just what we were waiting for.” Earlier in a virtual address to the World Bank meeting in Washington, he said his nation will also need up to $7 billion each month to make up for economic losses.

With tens of thousands of buildings damaged and key infrastructure in ruins, Ukraine “will need hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild,” Zelenskyy said.

“We are in a critical window now of time when they’re going to set the stage for the next phase of war.”

Pres. Biden announces a new $800 million aid package to Ukraine as Russia presses offensive in the east. pic.twitter.com/uvKQ91ZTuD

— CBS News (@CBSNews) April 21, 2022

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