« The United States announced a security assistance package worth 600 million dollars (561 million euros), as explained by Pentagon’s Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh, in a press statement held in Washington DC on Monday.
« The Department announced a new security assistance package through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative to support Ukraine’s battlefield needs. This 600 million dollar package includes equipment to augment Ukraine’s air defences, artillery, munitions and other capabilities », explained Singh.
The announcement came just one day after the US made a substantial pledge of over 1 billion dollars (0.93 billion euros) in military and humanitarian assistance for Kiev. Notably, this aid package includes 120mm depleted uranium rounds specially designed for M1 Abrams tanks, with anticipated delivery before the year’s end.
The decision to provide depleted uranium munitions has sparked controversy due to concerns about the material’s association with health problems, including cancer and birth defects, in regions where they have been used in previous conflicts. Nevertheless, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary defended the decision.
« The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has stated that there is no evidence that the depleted uranium rounds caused cancer. The World Health Organization reports that there has been no increase of leukemia or other cancers, and that have been established following any exposure to uranium or DU (Depleted Uranium) », Singh said.
To date, the United States has pledged more than $43 billion (€40.2 billion) in military assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow. »
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