KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian officials on Wednesday expressed thanks for $61 billion in new U.S. military aid that threw Kyiv’s armed forces a lifeline in their more than two-year war with Russia, even though the supplies aren’t expected to have an immediate impact on the battlefield.
“The key now is speed,” Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on the social platform X, previously Twitter. He urged quick deployment of the hardware that Kyiv expects to receive in the coming weeks and months.
President Joe Biden signed into law the aid package on Wednesday.
Ukrainian troops are far outnumbered by Russian forces and have faced acute shortages of shells and air defense systems as political quarrels in Washington held up the aid for months, allowing the Kremlin’s forces to inch forward in parts of eastern Ukraine in what has largely become a war of attrition.
Also Wednesday, U.S. officials confirmed the …