(Reuters) - Iraq's Ministry of Defence signed contracts with the United States and France to import advanced weapons and strengthen artillery, the state news agency (INA) reported on Sunday citing a senior military commander.
Days ago Russia’s foreign minister issued a formal appeal to the United States to immediately halt the supply of Western arms to Ukrainian forces if they are “really interested in resolving the Ukraine crisis.”
On Tuesday, President Biden visited a Lockheed Martin plant in Alabama that manufactures Javelin anti-tank missile systems, a weapon the US has been pouring into Ukraine to help Kyiv in its fight against Russia.
In its effort to send more weapons into Ukraine, the Pentagon has put out an open call to the arms industry to offer weapons and other systems that could rapidly be delivered to the country.
Deputy national security adviser Jon Finer says the US will announce a new weapons package for Ukraine this week. Kyiv is expecting more arms for hosting a meeting with high-ranking US officials.
On Thursday, President Biden announced another $1.3 billion in aid for Ukraine. Of that amount, $800 million will go towards a new weapons package, and $500 million will go directly to the Ukrainian government for economic assistance.
A US official said the White House has “almost zero” ability to track the weapons it is sending to Ukraine. So far, President Joe Biden has approved over $3 billion in arms shipments to Kiev.
The American people are allowing their blood soaked rulers in Washington to callously prolong the war in Ukraine. The complicit media has propagandized and lied the American people into insisting Washington double down on all their worst aggressions. And so continues the hawks’ reckless gamble on World War 3 to spite President Vladimir Putin and – once and for all – destroy Russia.
The U.S. State Department has cleared the sale of 12 AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopters to Nigeria worth nearly $1 billion, apparently after U.S. lawmakers lifted objections over human rights concerns.
On Wednesday, President Biden authorized a new $800 million weapons package for Ukraine that includes howitzers and helicopters. The announcement was made after Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who continues to plead for more arms.
The Pentagon will host leaders from the top eight U.S. weapons manufacturers on Wednesday to discuss the industry's capacity to meet Ukraine's weapons needs if the war with Russia lasts years, two people familiar with the meeting said on Tuesday.
The Senate on Wednesday night passed a bill that would revive the lend-lease program for Ukraine, which was used to give weapons to the Soviet Union, China, the UK, and other US allies during World War II.
The Pentagon is considering whether to use the Defense Production Act to help replace thousands of missiles shipped to Ukraine in recent months, as US stocks begin to run low following a long line of arms transfers.
The United States drastically enhanced its shipments of lethal military aid and protective equipment to Ukraine as the prospect of a Russian invasion became more apparent and then a reality, according to a declassified accounting of transfers and sales reviewed by The Washington Post.
The US is sending Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine for the first time as part of the Biden administration’s new $350 million military aid package for the country that was announced last Friday.
President Joe Biden instructed the U.S. State Department to release up to an additional $350 million worth of weapons from U.S. stocks to Ukraine on Friday as it struggles to repulse a Russian invasion.
Another day in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine standoff and another US weapons shipment has arrived in Kiev, despite all sides ostensibly continuing to push for a diplomatic solution and the avoidance of military conflict.
