Ukraine can expect more announcements in coming days about additional U.S. security assistance, a White House spokesman said as President Joe Biden’s term in office winds down.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told a briefing on January 3 that additional announcements on the provision of U.S. aid to Ukraine can be expected in the coming days. He gave no specifics.
The announcements would follow a $5.9 billion package of additional military and budget assistance for Ukraine announced by the Biden administration last week amid concerns that the new administration under President-elect Donald Trump will significantly reduce or halt arms supplies to Ukraine in order to push Kyiv to negotiate a peace settlement with Russia.
The White House said in a statement on December 30 that the aid includes an additional $1.25 billion drawdown package for the Ukrainian military and a $1.22 billion Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package. The Treasury Department later on December 30 announced a separate $3.4 billion disbursement to Ukraine in direct budget support.
Biden said in the statement that the United States would continue to work relentlessly to strengthen Ukraine's position in the war, but despite his pledge, the $5.9 million package was thought to be the last during his administration, which is set to end on January 20 with the inauguration of Trump.
Kirby also announced that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin would travel to Ramstein, Germany, for a meeting next week of Ukraine Defense Contact Group on January 9.
Kirby had previously said that there was a possibility that another meeting of the group could take place before Biden leaves office.
Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed later on January 3 that Austin would leave for Germany on January 7 to attend the 25th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.
SEE ALSO: Biden Announces $425 Million In Security Aid For UkraineThe meeting will “reaffirm our enduring commitment to Ukraine,” Singh said at a briefing. “Together with defense ministers and military leaders from around the globe, Secretary Austin will focus on delivering practical and coordinated support that reinforces Ukraine’s ability to defend itself today and deter aggression in the future.”
She said more details about Austin’s schedule would be announced in the coming days.
Asked about plans for future meetings of the contact group, Singh said it would be up to the incoming secretary of defense to decide whether to continue them.
She added that Trump’s transition team had so far met with 79 Pentagon officials about the transition to the new administration.
There has been no confirmation from the Trump team that his designated Ukraine envoy, retired Lieutenant-General Keith Kellogg, will travel to Kyiv in the coming days. Reuters quoted two sources with knowledge of the trip's planning as saying that Kellogg will visit senior leaders in Kyiv.
His team is working to set up meetings with leaders in other European capitals, such as Rome and Paris, they said. He is not planning to visit Moscow during the trip.
The meetings are expected to focus on fact-finding on behalf of the new administration rather than on active negotiations, the sources said.
The trip is seen as a sign of the urgency that Trump, who said he would end the war in Ukraine swiftly after his inauguration, has placed on quickly winding down the war.
Ukraine and other European countries have been skeptical about the claim and are concerned that a deal drafted by Trump could force Ukraine to give up territory to Russia in exchange for peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a televised interview broadcast on January 2 that Trump's "unpredictability" could help end the war.
Zelenskiy said that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is afraid of Trump, who could be "decisive" in ending the war.