The Biden administration is planning to unveil a $725 million weapons package for Ukraine this afternoon, which includes anti-tank weapons, artillery, drones, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, and anti-personnel land mines to slow Russia’s advances in the Kursk region.
The move comes as President-elect Donald Trump and his administration have expressed opposition to US support for Ukraine, with Trump stating he would end the war before entering office. However, his administration has not yet provided details on how it would achieve that.
Vice President-elect JD Vance has suggested that one way to end the war is for Ukraine to cede the land Russia has seized and establish a demilitarized zone, a proposal rejected by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is pushing for NATO membership, with Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha writing to NATO leaders that an invitation would be “the Allies’ adequate response to Russia’s constant escalation of the war it has unleashed.” Ukrainian President Zelenskyy also recently called on NATO leaders to invite Ukraine to join the Western military alliance.
The move is seen as a way to stop the “hot phase” of the war, with Zelenskyy stating that “if we want to stop the hot phase of the war, we need to take under the NATO umbrella the territory of Ukraine that we have under our control.”