(Bloomberg) -- The US on Wednesday announced a new weapons package for Ukraine worth $375 million, including ammunition for rocket systems and artillery, as well as armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.
The assistance coincides with a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to the US this week, which has been overshadowed by a clash with Donald Trump and other Republicans.
Zelenskiy’s weekend stop at an artillery-shell factory in the swing-state of Pennsylvania, along with Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro, drew criticism from Republicans who viewed it as a partisan campaign event.
The latest package comes as the White House and Congress have failed to negotiate an extension into next year of so-called presidential drawdown authority, which expires Sept. 30. The authority allows the White House to provide weapons and equipment out of the Defense Department’s own stockpiles.
Without such an extension, the Biden administration is moving forward with a workaround plan to provide about $5.6 billion in military equipment by the end of this month.
The US has so far provided about $56 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since the February 2022 invasion by Russia.
Zelenskiy on Thursday is expected to present President Joe Biden with his “victory plan,” which includes a pathway to NATO membership and other security and economic guarantees that the Ukrainian leader believes is necessary to convince Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to stop the fighting.
(Updates with US support details from final paragraph. An earlier version of this story corrected the spelling of Zelenskiy in headline.)
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