Washington will help Warsaw bolster its security and replace equipment donated to Ukraine
FILE PHOTO: Polish soldiers are seen on the second day of joint military exercises at the training ground in Nowa Deba, Poland. © Artur Widak / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The United States Congress has approved $288.6 million in military financing for Poland to bolster its security and help replace equipment donated to Ukraine amid the ongoing military conflict between Moscow and Kiev, the US Embassy in Warsaw announced on Thursday.
The embassy stated that the funds would come out of a $2.8 billion military aid package to Ukraine and 17 other countries deemed to be at “risk of future Russian aggression,” announced by US State Secretary Antony Blinken earlier this month.
Aside from Kiev, which is set to receive some $1 billion of these funds, Poland will be one of the largest recipients of so-called Foreign Military Assistance, receiving some 10% of the package.
Warsaw has been the second largest supplier of military equipment to Ukraine since Russia launched its military offensive in the country in late February. As of early August, Poland had delivered some $1.8 billion in military aid to Kiev, compared to $0.9 billion from the UK and almost half a billion from Germany, according to the Kiel Institute.
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The US State Department has said that the military financing provided to Poland would be used to “speed the backfill of capabilities Poland has been able to provide from its own stocks to add to Ukraine’s defense, including main battle tanks.”
In late June, US President Joe Biden announced that the US planned to establish a permanent military headquarters in Poland, and deploy additional land, air and sea forces across the eastern flank of NATO in order to “defend every inch” of the bloc’s territory from Russia.
The Pentagon, meanwhile, reportedly plans to create a new military command unit in Germany devoted to arming and training Ukrainian soldiers and providing oversight to military assistance being sent to Kiev, according to unnamed US officials who spoke to multiple media outlets.
So far, the US has authorized over $16 billion in arms transfers to Ukraine’s military this year, the vast majority of which was approved since hostilities escalated in February.
