Biden is sending aid to help Ukraine continue to fight next year, Blinken says

Kiev, Ukraine — The Biden administration is determined in its final months to help ensure that Ukraine can keep fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion next year, to send it as much aid as possible so it can keep Russian forces at bay and maintain a strong hand in any potential peace talks, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

“President Biden has committed to making sure that every dollar that we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and January 20,” when President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in, Blinken said.

NATO countries must focus their efforts on “ensuring that Ukraine has the money, ammunition and mobilized forces to fight effectively in 2025 or be able to negotiate a peace from a position of strength,” Blinken said during a visit to Brussels.

The U.S. will “adapt and adjust” with the latest equipment it sends, Blinken said, without giving details.

The nearly three-year-long war has shown no signs of winding down.

Russia attacked the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Wednesday with a sophisticated combination of missiles and drones for the first time in 73 days. It happened a day after the Pentagon said most North Korean troops sent to help Moscow’s war effort fighting to drive Ukraine’s army off Russian soil Kursk border region.

Ukraine is also struggling to hold again a month long Russian attack in eastern Donetsk region.

Political uncertainty about how an American administration under Trump will change Washington’s policy on the war is an important new factor in the conflict. US military aid is vital to Ukraine, but Trump has signaled that he does not want to keep giving Kiev tens of billions of dollars.

Air strike warnings sounded for hours as Russia attacked eight regions of Ukraine on Wednesday, firing six ballistic and cruise missiles and 90 drones, the Ukrainian air force said.

Air defenses shot down four missiles and 37 drones, and another 47 drones were stopped by electronic jamming, the statement said. The damage was assessed.

The airstrike came as most of the more than 10,000 North Korean troops sent by Pyongyang to aid Moscow in the war are engaged in combat in Russia’s Kursk border region, according to the Pentagon. A Ukrainian army’s incursion into Kursk three months ago has managed to hold a wide swath of land and has bothered the Kremlin.

Russia’s military has been training the North Korean soldiers in artillery, drone skills and basic infantry operations, including trench clearing, Pentagon deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told a briefing on Tuesday. According to the Pentagon, the collaboration faces challenges, including how to achieve military interoperability and overcome the language barrier.

Kyiv officials say Russia has deployed about 50,000 troops to Kursk in an effort to drive out the Ukrainians.

Russia has in recent months been massing forces for a counteroffensive in Kursk, according to the Institute for the Study of War think tank, although the timescale for the operation is not known.

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Lorne Cook reported from Brussels.

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