WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The Pentagon will send Ukraine at least $275 million in new weapons, including an undisclosed number of , as the Biden administration rushes to do as much as it can to before takes office.
The latest tranche of weapons comes as worries grow about an escalation in the conflict, with both sides pushing to gain any advantage they can exploit if Trump demands a quick end to the war 鈥� as he has vowed to do.
鈥淲e will continue to provide Ukraine the support it needs to succeed on the battlefield and prevail in its defense against Russia鈥檚 aggression,鈥� Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
In rapid succession this week, President Joe Biden gave Ukraine the deeper into Russia and said it would provide the antipersonnel land mines. Russian President Vladimir Putin also formally lowered the .
U.S. officials contend that Russia鈥檚 change in nuclear doctrine was expected, but Moscow is warning that Ukraine's new use of the , inside Russia on Tuesday could trigger a strong response.
One American official said the U.S. is seeing no indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.
Asked Tuesday if a Ukrainian attack with longer-range U.S. missiles could potentially trigger use of nuclear weapons, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov answered affirmatively.
Another U.S. official said Ukraine fired about eight ATACMS missiles into Russia on Tuesday and just two were intercepted. The official said the U.S. is still assessing the damage but the missiles struck an ammunition supply location in Karachev, in the Bryansk region.
The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence.
The weapons in the new package of aid for Ukraine include, that are 鈥渘ot-persistent鈥� 鈥� meaning they are electrically fused and powered by batteries. As a result, once the battery runs out, they will no longer detonate, unlike the ones used by Russia, which do not become inert and remain a threat to civilians for decades.
Also in the new aid package will be an infusion of air defense, including munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, Javelin anti-armor munitions, drones, and other equipment and spare parts.
The weapons will be provided through , which allows the Pentagon quickly to pull supplies from its shelves to speed them to Ukraine鈥檚 front line.
Trump鈥檚 upcoming move to the White House has triggered a scramble by the Biden administration to ensure all the gets delivered and that Kyiv is in a strong position going into the winter.
The Biden administration would have to rush $7.1 billion in weapons from the Pentagon鈥檚 stockpiles to spend all of those funds before Trump is sworn in. That includes $4.3 billion from a earlier this year and $2.8 billion still on the books in savings due to the Pentagon recalculating the value of systems sent.
Asked if the department can get that done before Jan. 20, when Trump takes office, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said officials are working to get Ukraine what it needs.
鈥淲e are committed to using that full authority that Congress has allotted to us,鈥� Singh said. 鈥淭he only way we can do that also is to make sure that our shelves are fully backfilled and stocked. So as our shelves continue to get stocked with equipment and capabilities that are needed, we draw down from those and send those to Ukraine.鈥�
In addition to the weapons in the Pentagon drawdown, the State Department said Tuesday that it had authorized the sale to Ukraine of $100 million in unspecified defense equipment and services, including vehicle refurbishment, technical assistance, training and 鈥渙ther related elements of logistics and program support.鈥�
In contrast to the drawdown, the government of Ukraine will pay for those supplies.
As part of the wider effort to boost Ukraine, the administration also is on track to disperse its portion of a , backed by frozen Russian assets, before Biden leaves the White House, according to two senior administration officials.
The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly, said the U.S. and Ukraine are now in 鈥渁dvanced stages鈥� in discussing terms of the loan and are looking to complete the process for the $20 billion portion of the mammoth loan that the U.S. is backing.
The goal is to get it done before the end of the year, one official said. The remaining $30 billion will come from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan, among others.
and derided Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a 鈥渟alesman鈥� while also praising Putin and touting his good relationship with him. The president-elect has claimed 鈥� without explaining how 鈥� that he will before his inauguration on Jan. 20, saying he will 鈥済et it resolved very quickly.鈥�
Last week, when he addressed supporters from a golden ballroom at a his Mar-a-Lago resort, Trump returned to that pledge but again offered little information before changing the subject.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to work very hard on Russia and Ukraine. It鈥檚 got to stop. Russia and Ukraine鈥檚 gotta stop,鈥� he said.
He has suggested that Ukraine give up at least some of its Russian-occupied territory to settle the war, saying at a rally in late September that 鈥渋f they made a bad deal, it would鈥檝e been much better. They would鈥檝e given up a little bit and everybody would be living and every building would be built and every tower would be aging for another 2,000 years.鈥�
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Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Michelle L. Price in New York City and Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.
Lolita C. Baldor And Matthew Lee, The Associated Press
