(AFP) – The United States announced Friday that it will provide an additional $425 million in military aid to Ukraine, a day after Washington said thousands of North Korean troops were ready to enter combat against Kyiv’s forces. The assistance “will provide Ukraine additional capabilities to meet its most urgent needs, including: air defense interceptors; munitions for rocket systems and artillery; armored vehicles; and anti-tank weapons,” the Defense Department said in a statement.
The package, which will be drawn from US stocks, also includes air-to-ground munitions, medical equipment, demolition munitions and spare parts, the statement said. “The United States will continue to work… to meet Ukraine’s urgently needed battlefield requirements and defend against Russian aggression,” it added.
The previous day, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that of the 10,000 North Korean troops believed by the United States to have been sent to Russia, up to 8,000 have been deployed to the Kursk region bordering Ukraine. “We’ve not yet seen these troops deploy into combat against Ukrainian forces, but we would expect that to happen in the coming days,” Blinken told a news conference.
Ukrainian troops have been conducting a ground offensive in Kursk since August and control several hundred square miles of Russian territory. Russia and North Korea have deepened their political and military alliance as the Ukraine war has dragged on, but sending Pyongyang’s troops into combat against Kyiv’s forces would mark a significant escalation that has sparked international concern.
The United States has been a key military backer of Ukraine, committing more than $60 billion in weapons, ammunition and other security aid since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
© 2024 AFP
