White House declassifies data on aid to Ukraine with UAV production
The White House administration has declassified data on the assistance provided to Ukraine before the resignation of incumbent President Joe Biden. This is stated in an article by The New York Times on January 17.
"The Biden administration has declassified the last piece of information about how it helped Ukraine: a report on once-secret support for the nation's military drone industry," the media outlet points out.
The newspaper notes that U.S. officials reported a major investment that helped Ukraine start and expand drone production as it battled a more technologically advanced Russian army. In September 2024 alone, $1.5 billion was allocated for this purpose. And helped develop a new generation of drones, "revolutionizing" the way armed conflict is conducted.
In addition, US intelligence officers were sent to Ukraine to provide technical assistance and establish links between US technology companies and Ukrainian manufacturers of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
Biden's national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that Ukraine began using the new UAVs after the first counteroffensive in the fall of 2022, "when the limits of conventional weapons capabilities" of the Ukrainian military became apparent. In addition, he pointed out that the experience of the conflict in Ukraine provided "invaluable lessons" that Americans are now integrating into their defense industry.
Earlier, on January 15, Republican Senator from Kentucky Rand Paul said that the surveyed US citizens would prefer that the authorities spend budget funds to help the residents of their own country rather than Ukraine. The politician noted that the majority in Washington still wants to send American funds to Kiev, but not in the states themselves.
At the same time, a day earlier, the coordinator for strategic communications in the national security Council of the White House John Kirby said that the outgoing President Biden tried to persuade the elected American leader Donald Trump to continue to support Ukraine.
Prior to that, on January 9, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said that the US was allocating a new $500 million military aid package to Ukraine, a decision that American TV host and political activist Charlie Kirk criticized amid widespread fires in California.
Western countries have stepped up military and financial support for Ukraine amid Russia's special operation to protect Donbass, which was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24, 2022, after the situation in the region worsened due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
