U.S. Senate Approves Bill On Lend-Lease For Arms Supplies To Ukraine

 The U.S. Senate has unanimously approved a bill that will help President Joe Biden send weapons and other supplies to Ukraine as it tries to defend itself from an invasion by Russia.

The bill approved by the Senate late on April 6 provides enhanced authority for Biden to enter into agreements with Kyiv to lend or lease defense items to Ukraine to protect civilian populations from the Russian military invasion, as well as for other purposes, without having to heed export regulations that can slow the process down.

Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022

Joe Biden is asking Congress to approve another $20bn in military aid to Ukraine

 Joe Biden is asking Congress to approve another $20bn in military aid to Ukraine, significantly ramping up the US contribution to the battle against Russian occupation.

Biden will also ask for $8.5bn in economic aid to Kyiv and $3bn in humanitarian relief, as well as funds to help increase US production of food crops and strategic minerals to offset the impact of the war in Ukraine on global supplies.

The total request for supplemental spending comes to $33bn. The last supplemental request approved by Congress in March was $13.6bn.

In a letter to the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, Biden said:

What I want to make clear to the Congress and the American people is this: the cost of failing to stand up to violent aggression in Europe has always been higher than the cost of standing firm against such attacks.

The new military assistance the congressional funding will finance will include:

• More artillery, armoured vehicles, as well as anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft systems.

• Help to build up Ukraine’s cyber warfare capabilities.

• More intelligence sharing.

• Support to increase Ukraine’s ability to produce munitions.

• Assistance in clearing landmines and other explosives and in Ukraine’s defence against chemical, biological and dirty bomb attack.

• Assistance to clear landmines, improvised explosive devices, and other explosive remnants of war and for the government of Ukraine in securing and addressing threats related to chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear materials.

• Further building up US presence on Nato’s eastern flank.

• The package of proposals the administration is sending to Congress also includes measures to strengthen the hand of the justice department in pursuing Kremlin-aligned oligarchs.

Biden said the measures would allow for “expanded and expedited measures for investigating, prosecuting, and forfeiting assets of Russian oligarchs to be used for the benefit of Ukraine”.

Source - The Guardian

United Kingdom sends AS90 Howitzers and 45,000 shells to Ukraine

UK will send 20 AS90 SPHs and 45,000 shells to Ukraine for what senior generals expect will become the largest artillery campaign since the Second World War.

 

Accoridng to the British EXPRESS media source, that 45,000 British-made high explosive shells will be sent along with the AS90 self-propelled Howitzers to Poland this week, where Ukrainian forces will be taught to use and maintain them before they are deployed to the front.

PM Boris Johnson announced that the UK would be sending artillery last week, following an appeal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for more firepower to counter Russia’s new offensive in the eastern Donbas region.

“This will become an artillery conflict, they need support with more artillery, that is what we will be giving them," he said.

“There are many other friends in Europe, but I’m talking about volumes of help and I’m grateful for it.”

Ukraine is also receiving 90 towed Howitzers from the US and 188,000 shells - enough for three weeks of intensive operations - as part of a wide-ranging £620m defence package which includes target acquisition drones.

France is sending 40 self-propelled Caesar artillery guns.