By Andrea Shalal and Mike Stone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration announced another package of weapons aid for Ukraine on Thursday, without revealing the amount or contents of the package.
White House spokesperson John Kirby said the U.S. would continue to provide additional packages for Ukraine “right up to the end of this administration.”
Washington said 10 days ago it would send Ukraine $725 million worth of missiles, ammunition, anti-personnel mines and other weapons as President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration seeks to bolster Kyiv in its war with Russian invaders before leaving office in January.
Thursday’s package, which also uses the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) to rush weapons from U.S. stocks to the front lines, was expected to be worth about $500 million and include ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), according to a person briefed on the matter.
The person cautioned that the amount and contents were in flux through Thursday afternoon.
After Thursday, about $5.6 billion worth of PDA remains available to Biden without requiring congressional approval.
Moscow’s troops have been capturing village after village in Ukraine’s east, part of a drive to seize the industrial Donbas region, while Russian air strikes target a hobbled Ukrainian energy grid as winter sets in.
(This story has been refiled to correct the day to Thursday, not Tuesday, in paragraph 1)
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Mike Stone; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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