As the NATO summit in Washington concluded yesterday, the U.S. unveiled its latest security package for Ukraine. Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh announced during a briefing that the 61st presidential drawdown authority package, valued at approximately $225 million, will provide Ukraine with additional capabilities to address its most urgent needs. This package includes one Patriot battery, munitions for rocket systems, artillery, and antitank weapons.
The security assistance package also features 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds, Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems, and small-arms ammunition. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, the United States has committed more than $53.7 billion in security assistance through both presidential drawdown authority and the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
Additionally, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov today, emphasizing the importance of maintaining lines of communication amid Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. Their last conversation was in late June.
During this week’s summit celebrating NATO’s 75th anniversary, member states reaffirmed their support for Ukraine. They agreed to launch NATO’s security assistance and training for Ukraine from a command based in Germany and committed to a minimum baseline funding of 40 billion euros (over $43 billion) within the next year. Individual NATO nations also announced independent efforts to assist Ukraine, including pledges of air defense systems.
Humanitarian Aid to Gaza
In May, the U.S. Department of Defense deployed a floating, mobile pier—part of its Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore (JLOTS) capability—to the shore of Gaza to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid. To date, more than 8,000 metric tons (nearly 20 million pounds) of humanitarian aid have been delivered from the pier to the marshaling area for collection by humanitarian organizations.
The floating pier, currently at the Port of Ashdod, Israel, about 20 miles north of Gaza, has been offline several times due to conditions in the Mediterranean Sea. A re-anchoring date for the pier has not yet been set. Department officials have stated that the pier is not a permanent solution for delivering humanitarian aid into Gaza and that operations will soon cease, with more details to be announced soon.
“We’re very proud of our service members and all those supporting this effort who have enabled vital humanitarian assistance to reach those in Gaza who need it most,” Singh said. “As hundreds of thousands of people continue to face emergency levels of food insecurity across Gaza, the United States will continue to take all possible actions to ensure increased aid flows are sustained at the scale needed to meet the needs on the ground.”
The humanitarian aid delivered into Gaza via the JLOTS pier began its journey in nearby Cyprus. While neither the U.S. nor the department is directly involved in operations there, the humanitarian mission in Gaza has enhanced capabilities at port facilities in Cyprus. Singh noted that the JLOTS implementation has helped develop Cyprus as a port for inspections and deliveries directly into Gaza, allowing aid to be inspected in Cyprus and delivered through Israel’s Ashdod Port and northern crossings.
The deployment of the pier has also secured Israeli commitments to opening additional crossings into northern Gaza, leading to more trucks moving from Jordan directly into northern Gaza to help alleviate the dire humanitarian conditions.–News Desk