US Announces Latest Security Plan for Ukraine > US Department of Defense > Department of Defense News

As the NATO summit ended yesterday in Washington, the United States announced its latest security plan for Ukraine.

“The Department of Defense announced yesterday the 61st Presidential Drawdown Plan, valued at $225 million,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said at a press briefing today. “This plan will provide Ukraine with additional capabilities to meet its most urgent needs and includes a Patriot battery, rocket system munitions, and artillery and anti-tank weapons.”

The latest security assistance package also includes 155mm and 105mm artillery shells, Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems, and small arms ammunition.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, the United States has committed more than $53.7 billion in security assistance, through both the Presidential Withdrawal Authorization and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.

Today, Singh said, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with his counterpart, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov.

“During the call, the secretary stressed the importance of maintaining lines of communication in the context of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine,” Singh said, adding that the last time the two men spoke was in late June.

At this week’s summit marking NATO’s 75th anniversary, member states pledged continued support for Ukraine. That support includes an agreement to launch NATO security assistance and training for Ukraine from a command based in Germany and a commitment to provide minimum core funding of €40 billion, or just over $43 billion, over the next year.

NATO countries have also announced their own independent efforts to help Ukraine, including pledging to provide air defense systems.

Humanitarian aid to Gaza

In May, the department attached a floating, mobile pier – part of its Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS, capability – to the Gaza shoreline to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid.

“To date, more than 8,000 metric tons, or nearly 20 million pounds, of humanitarian aid has been delivered from the dock to the staging area where it can be picked up by humanitarian organizations for further delivery and distribution,” Singh said.

Due to weather conditions in the Mediterranean Sea, the floating pier has been taken out of service several times since it was set up. It is currently in the port of Ashdod, Israel, about 30 kilometers north of Gaza. Singh said no re-anchoring date has yet been set for the pier.

Ministry officials said the dock was not a permanent solution for delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza. Singh said the dock was expected to cease operations soon and more details about it would be announced soon.

“We are very proud of our military and all those supporting this effort…who have enabled vital humanitarian assistance to reach…those most in need in Gaza,” she said. “As hundreds of thousands of people continue to face emergency levels of food insecurity in Gaza, the United States will continue to take every step possible to ensure that increased aid flows are maintained at the scale necessary to meet the needs on the ground.”

The humanitarian aid delivered to Gaza through the JLOTS pier began its journey in nearby Cyprus. While neither the United States nor the department are directly involved in operations there, Singh said the flow of aid boosted by the humanitarian mission in Gaza has helped build the capacity of port facilities in Cyprus.

“In addition to enabling the delivery of vital aid, the implementation of JLOTS has enabled the development of Cyprus as a port of inspection and direct delivery to Gaza,” she said. “Aid can now be inspected in Cyprus and delivered directly to Gaza via the Israeli port of Ashdod and the northern crossings.”

Singh said the jetty deployment also helped secure Israeli commitment to open additional crossings into northern Gaza.

“Since the opening of these crossings, we have seen more trucks moving from Jordan directly to northern Gaza to help alleviate the dire humanitarian conditions,” she said.