Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said additional U.S. security assistance for Ukraine announced on December 30 comes at a critical moment and will help strengthen Ukrainian defenses along the front line.
"Every act of solidarity from our partners saves lives, strengthens our independence, and reinforces our resilience. It also demonstrates that democracies are stronger than autocratic aggressors," Zelenskiy said on X after the United States announced $5.9 billion in a three-pronged aid package.
The White House said in a statement on December 30 that the pledge includes an additional $1.25 billion drawdown package for the Ukrainian military and a $1.22 billion Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package.
Hours later, the Treasury Department announced a separate $3.4 billion disbursement to Ukraine in direct budget support.
The announcements came as the White House ramps up support to the war-torn country before President Joe Biden's term ends next month.
"I've directed my Administration to continue surging as much assistance to Ukraine as quickly as possible -- including drawing down older U.S. equipment for Ukraine, rapidly delivering it to the battlefield, and then revitalizing the U.S. defense industrial base to modernize and replenish our stockpiles with new weapons," Biden said in the White House statement.
"At my direction, the United States will continue to work relentlessly to strengthen Ukraine's position in this war over the remainder of my time in office," Biden added.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen added in a separate statement: "Our direct budget support to Ukraine arrives at a critical time as Russia intensifies its attacks on Ukrainian civilians and critical infrastructure."
"Economic assistance from the United States and our allies is crucial for Ukraine’s ability to defend its sovereignty and achieve a just peace by maintaining the critical government services that underpin its brave fight," she said in the statement.
SEE ALSO: Ukraine Live Briefing: Russia Halts Gas Flows To Europe Via UkraineDespite Biden's pledge to continue ratcheting up support, the package is likely to be the last brought forth during his administration amid concerns that 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.
Trump is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 20.
Russia has been pushing back Ukrainian troops on the front lines for weeks and claimed on December 29 to have seized another town in Ukraine's Donetsk region as it continues its long, bloody drive against the strategic -- but nearly destroyed -- southern logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces captured Novotroyitske, a settlement with a prewar population 6,300 about 16 kilometers south of Pokrovsk.
The Ukrainian military did not comment specifically about Novotroyitske, but it said Russian troops had carried out 133 attacks on its positions, most of which were in the Pokrovsk area.
Analysts have speculated on what the Kremlin forces' next steps will be for the city, a strategic logistics hub for Kyiv.
SEE ALSO: What Would The Russian Capture Of Pokrovsk Mean For The Ukraine War?The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said geolocation data suggested the Russian military was about 10 kilometers from the border of the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
"[Russian President Vladimir] Putin may be putting pressure on the Russian military command to advance to the border, and not to cover Pokrovsk at this time," it wrote.
In an interview with RFE/RL, Viktor Muzhenko, the former Ukrainian military commander, said any truce between Kyiv and Moscow that leaves swaths of Ukrainian territory under Russian control would represent a victory for the Kremlin and "fully compensate [it] for its costs of the war."
Muzhenko, who led the military from 2014-19, said the situation with the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions and parts of Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions is "critical" -- "not only for the loss of territories, but also [the loss of] half of the resource base of Ukraine."
The announcement of the new support from Washington comes on the heels of an announcement by Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov on December 29 that Kyiv had received an additional 150 million euros ($156 million) in aid from Denmark, France, and Lithuania to help finance the country's defense industry.
"These funds, in particular, will be used for the production of missiles, deep-strike drones and artillery installations," he said in a Facebook post.
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Meanwhile, outgoing German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said she does not expect the next government in Berlin to "abandon" Ukraine in its fight against Russia.
"No German government devoted to the security of Germany and Europe will abandon the people of Ukraine," she said in an interview published by Bild newspaper on December 29.
Germany will vote on February 23, a day after the anniversary of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion. after a coalition government led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz collapsed last month.
Berlin trails only Washington in the amount of support provided to Ukraine, although Scholz has been reluctant to send heavy weaponry to Kyiv, often angering the Ukrainian leadership.
Addressing worries that Trump may push a peace deal detrimental to Kyiv following his inauguration, Baerbock underlined the importance of providing for Ukraine's security needs in any such agreements.
"Only reliable, long-term and, above all, truly sustainable security guarantees will prevent Putin from resorting to further campaigns of conquest. Only then will there be lasting peace and stability in Ukraine," she told Bild, without being specific.