WASHINGTON, Sept 25 (Reuters) - The United States plans to announce more than $8 billion worth of military assistance for Ukraine on Thursday during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit to Washington, two U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

President Joe Biden’s administration has been engaged in urgent discussions with Congress to allow it to use up $5.6 billion in military aid for Ukraine before Sept. 30 - the end of the federal fiscal year - when the authority was set to expire.

On Thursday, U.S. officials said, the White House intends to notify Congress it will move forward with the announcement of a $5.6 billion drawdown from U.S. weapons stocks. The contents of that package are still in flux, the officials said.

Reuters reported this month that the Biden administration was considering a backup plan under which it would announce plans for shipments for Ukraine, but with an extended delivery timeline for the weapons and equipment, allowing for a more gradual transfer of resources to Ukraine without missing the Sept. 30 deadline.

A second announcement slated for Thursday will be for $2.4 billion worth of aid under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative program, which allows the administration to buy weapons for Ukraine from companies rather than pull them from U.S. stocks.

That aid will include munitions, weapons to combat drones and material to support munitions production in Ukraine, one of the U.S. officials said.

In addition, the U.S. announced on Wednesday $375 million worth of Presidential Drawdown Authority for Ukraine. The package will include the first shipment of a precision-guided glide bomb with a range of up to 81 miles (130 km) called the Joint Standoff Weapon, two U.S. officials said. The inclusion of that weapon was not disclosed in the announcement.

  • @[email protected]English
    8•2 months ago

    The Kremlin is commited to spreading disinformation on social media. It’s simply good for dividing and conquering their political rivals.

    • @[email protected]English
      -10•2 months ago

      It’s not disinformation to point out the role the US and UK played in shutting down every peace talk in this conflict.

      • @Plastic_RamsesEnglish
        6•2 months ago

        What were putins requirements for peace?

        • @BuffaloxEnglish
          7•2 months ago

          Exactly! Putin wants all occupied territory plus territory they haven’t even conquered, like all of the Kherson region, including the city that is under Ukrainian control. And they want Zelenskyj removed, which translates to Russian puppet government.

        • @[email protected]English
          -9•2 months ago

          According to the New York Times, the initial Russian demands were

          Ukrainian recognition of its annexation of Crimea in 2014, permanent Ukrainian neutrality, and autonomy for the ethnic Russian provinces, or oblasts, in eastern and southeastern Ukraine

          In return, Ukrainian demands were

          Russia be held accountable for war atrocities, withdraw from all captured Ukraine territory, including Crimea, and pay reparations.

          As negotiations progressed, both sides made concessions over the status of Crimea, the allowed positions of Russian troops, and the status of Ukraine in regards to NATO and its nuclear nonproliferation.

          Then, the west put its finger on the scale and ended the negotiations.

          • @Plastic_RamsesEnglish
            3•2 months ago

            So what you’re saying is that putin wanted to steal more land?

            • @[email protected]English
              -3•2 months ago

              Yes of course Putin wants as much land as he can get.

              I’m also saying that, if the deal had been reached in spring 2022, Ukraine would control more territory than it currently controls now. And there would be at least 100,000 more Ukrainians alive that wouldnt have been sacrificed to Putin’s meat grinder. Thousands of murdered Ukrainian civilians would still be alive.

              • @Plastic_RamsesEnglish
                4•2 months ago

                Something something no nukes, no attack. Yada yada yada.

                Surely you can see that putin is not an honorable man. Or at least not honorable enough to keep his governments word.

                • @[email protected]English
                  -1•2 months ago

                  Of course, any deal that relies simply on Putin’s word isn’t worth the paper its printed on.

                  Well-designed peace deals never rely on honor. They rely on mutual benefit, verification, with agreed-upon punishments for failure.

      • @BuffaloxEnglish
        4•2 months ago

        What you are doing is an extreme distortion of reality, and yes that is very much disinformation.
        Also it’s a very used Russian talking point. That Ukraine should just surrender, when in fact Russia could end this war immediately by simply going home!
        The view you present here is outright despicable, and a bow to state terrorism.

        • @[email protected]English
          -6•2 months ago

          I do not want Ukraine to surrender, that is stupid.

          Every war ends with talking to your enemy, this war will be no different. The sooner Ukraine and Russia can come to a negotiated settlement, the sooner the Ukrainian people will know peace.

          • @BuffaloxEnglish
            5•2 months ago

            The demands from Russia for a peace talk is as close to a Ukrainian surrender as it gets.
            Putin demands territory they aren’t even occupying, and they demand a Russian friendly government in Ukraine.
            I have no idea what you imagine would be negotiated at this point, but there is no way it could in any way be fair to Ukraine.
            You are either extremely naive and unrealistic, or a Russian puppet.

            • @[email protected]English
              -4•2 months ago

              Do you have a source for those “Putin demands”? That is news to me and I’d love to read more.

              In the 2022 talks, many people negotiated in good faith, including President Zelenskyy. You can find many quotes from Zelenskyy praising the progress made in these negotiations. Do you think Zelenskyy is extremely naive and unrealistic, or is he a Russian puppet too?

              • @BuffaloxEnglish
                5•2 months ago

                As a relatively nearby neighbor to these events, I’ve been following developments from before the war even started. I admit I was shocked USA was right, and Putin did in fact invade Ukraine.

                https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/14/world/europe/russia-ukraine-putin-cease-fire.html

                Mr. Putin’s new announcement stipulates that Ukraine effectively surrender huge swaths of land it now controls to Moscow, including the capitals of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

                This is merely for a cease fire Putin actually wants!!! And still he demands Ukraine hand over Kherson!! Together with remaining parts of 4 regions Ukraine currently control.
                Putin is completely delusional about his standing,

                Kyiv has said that Russia must withdraw its troops from all of Ukraine’s internationally recognized territory.

                Which is of course perfectly reasonable by Ukraine, but Putin is nowhere near giving up Crimea.
                To claim any 3rd party nation has had any obstructive effect in these talks not taking place is ridiculous.

                Other source:
                https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/14/vladimir-putin-demands-war-ukraine/

                Regarding the demand that Zelenskyj step down, I can’t fin direct links to them, as I’m overwhelmed with more recent news in my search. But it’s inherent in the rhetoric of Putin like for instance this speech from 2022:

                http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/67828

                The next point: “The supreme representative bodies of power of the USSR republics can challenge and suspend the operation of the USSR Government’s resolutions and directives in their territory.”

                It does require some broader knowledge, like Putin is trying to rebuild the USSR. But Putin claim Ukraine is part of Russia, despite they entered USSR as an independent country, and when USSR collapsed, Ukraine went back to their former status. Putins claim on Ukraine is based on falsification of historical events. But Putin is KGB/FSB, so he deals in misinformation when it benefit his goals.

                Another reason for the Russian invasion is large deposits of gas and oil in Ukraine, and Putin probably tried to prevent having to compete with Ukraine on the lucrative gas exports to Europe.