US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin rushed to plug the holes left by months of little US help, announcing $6 billion in additional military aid for Ukraine on Friday.
 
This week's package is the second worth $1 billion that was unveiled shortly after US President Joe Biden approved a much-delayed law to re-invest in Ukraine as it fights against Russian advances.
 
"After the conclusion of a virtual meeting of dozens of Kyiv's international supporters, I'm... pleased to announce today an additional commitment of $6 billion through our Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative," Austin said to reporters.
"This represents our largest security assistance commitment to date," Austin said, going on to say that it will cover air defence munitions, artillery ammunition, counter-drone equipment, and maintenance and sustainment support.
 
The latest aid will be sourced from the defence sector, which means it will take longer to reach the front lines than the $1 billion package that was unveiled on Wednesday. That package included supplies that would be taken from US inventories.
 
Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the US has provided tens of billions of dollars in security aid as one of the country's main military allies.
 
But until this past week, Washington had only once this year declared fresh support for Ukraine—a $300 million package in March that was made possible solely by the Pentagon repurchasing funds that it had saved on earlier purchases.
 
- "Ample and prompt assistance"-
 
A quarrelling After months of bitter discussion among legislators about how or even whether to help Ukraine defend itself, Congress finally took action starting last week, after having not approved significant financing for Kyiv for over a year and a half.
 
Legislation authorising $95 billion in assistance funds, including $61 billion for Ukraine, was adopted by the US House of Representatives on April 20. The package was then passed by the Senate on Tuesday and signed into law by President Biden the following day.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, stated that Kyiv has suffered financial consequences as a result of the US's tardiness in authorising fresh aid during the Friday virtual meeting's beginning.
 
"While we were waiting for a decision on the American support, the Russian army managed to seize the initiative on the battlefield," Zelensky stated.
 
"We can still now not only stabilise the front, but also move forward, achieving our Ukrainian goals in the war," he stated, adding that "Ukrainian defenders need your sufficient and timely support."
 
"Ukrainian forces have been rationing their ammunition for quite some time, rationing their capabilities," a senior US defence source stated this week.
 
Although "this will not be a rapid process," assistance from the US and other nations "will enable the Ukrainians to begin to retake the initiative," the person stated under condition of anonymity.
 
"To accept all of these fresh supplies and make sure they can hold their positions, the Ukrainians will need to rebuild quite a bit. Therefore, I do not anticipate any significant offensive in the near future," the official continued.
 
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