U.S. announces $2.6 billion in new military aid to Ukraine

April 4 (UPI) -- The White House announced Tuesday the United States would send more than $2.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine as it prepares for a counteroffensive against Russia.

The aid will include $500 million in ammunition and equipment, along with $2.1 billion worth of air-defense systems, mortar systems, and anti-armor systems.

"The United States will continue to work with its allies and partners to provide Ukraine with capabilities to meet its immediate battlefield needs and longer-term security assistance requirements," the Pentagon said in a statement.

Much of the aid comes from the presidential drawdown authority, which allows the Pentagon to take extra items from the Defense Department and ship them to Ukraine.

Additional munitions for Patriot and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, various size artillery rounds, missiles, 11 tactical vehicles, 400 grenade launchers and spare parts were among the items included in the drawdown, which is the 35th of the Biden administration of Ukraine.

The $2.1 billion commitment is to be covered by funds from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which is a Pentagon-led program that permits the United States to procure weapons directly from industry suppliers instead of U.S. stockpiles, and includes National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, anti-armor missiles and small arms and rounds as well as funding for training, maintenance and sustainment.

"Grateful to [the United States of America] for new large-scale $2.6 billion defense air package for [Ukraine]," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted Tuesday. "We expect HIMARS ammunition, air defense missiles, artillery shells & other crucial tools. We're preparing for the occupied territories liberation & value the unflagging support of @Potus & all [American] people."

A senior Defense official told reporters Tuesday that their focus is for Ukraine to be able to advance and hold its position when it launches a counter offensive.

Fighting continues in the east of Ukraine where there has been less territory changing hands with a relatively static frontline though with significant artillery fire from both sides.

For the Pentagon to achieve its objective, they are focusing on air defense, providing armor capabilities to permit Ukraine to conduct complex maneuvers and delivering a steady flow of artillery, munitions and spare parts, the officials said.

"We are putting all of these pieces together to provide full, lasting, combat-credible capabilities covering all of the steps from the donation, to the training, to the maintenance and sustainment," the senior official said. "The substantial resources the United States has committed to Ukraine reflects the American interests and values that are at stake."

The new aid comes on the same day that Finland officially joined NATO. It shares an 832-mile border with Russia, which has frequently criticized the expansion of the defensive military bloc.

"Finland has today become a member of the defense alliance NATO," Finland's President Finland's Sauli Niinisto said on Twitter. "The era of military non-alignment in our history has come to an end. A new era begins."