US Sends Air Defense Ammunition to Mine Cleaner Worth IDR 3 Trillion, President Zelensky: This is Very Needed

The delivery of US weapons to Ukraine. (Twitter/@USEmbassyKyiv)

JAKARTA - President Volodymyr Zelensky said military assistance from the United States was urgently needed, when Washington announced plans to send new aid worth IDR 3,070,790,000,000 to Ukraine.

The latest aid plan announced on Monday includes air defense munitions, artillery shells and mine clearance equipment.

This assistance will also include an anti-personnel capability, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, citing Reuters, August 15.

"I want to thank the United States today for this new package. Ammunition for the Patriots, for HIMARS, artillery, javelins, and more. These are things that are urgently needed," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a speech the night of the Monday.

"There will be more work to be done soon with our partners in the interests of defense," he added.

Two US officials told Reuters on Monday Washington would begin distributing $6.2 billion in funds uncovered after a Pentagon accounting error overvalued billions of dollars in Ukrainian aid.

In May, the Pentagon announced it had mistakenly overstated a value for US weapons shipped to Kyiv, when staff used "replacement values" rather than "depreciation values" to tabulate billions of munitions, missiles, and other equipment used sent to Ukraine.

Ukraine needs weaponry that can be shipped from US stockpiles in a matter of days or weeks, so it can continue to repel a Russian invasion. This accounting error worked in Kyiv's favor as more equipment could be delivered.

Starting to use these discovered funds was critical, as they were the last of the $25.5 billion Presidential Withdrawal Authority (PDA) previously authorized by Congress, which the administration could use to ship weapons from the US stockpile in the event of an emergency. emergency.

It is known that Washington is currently pursuing a request for additional funds to continue to assist Kyiv, US officials said.

Monday's announcement will be the first tranche of a $6.2 billion windfall from the Presidential Withdrawal Authority (PDA) that has been previously authorized, the officials said.