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EXPERT COMMENT

The essential aid package will allow Kyiv to slow down Russian forces. But the delay had a real cost for Ukraine, and a secure long-term funding model is required.

The new $61 billion US aid package for Ukraine, approved by Congress on 23 April, will improve Ukraine’s battlefield position – allowing stocks of ammunition from US bases in Poland and Germany to be shipped quickly to existing Ukrainian forces, and newly mobilized troops to be equipped. 

Critics of Ukraine’s mobilization law, recently passed by the parliament in Kyiv, argued it made little sense to draft more men if there were no weapons to arm them: now that concern can be discarded. 

The US package includes weapons Ukraine has long sought and which can make a significant difference in the war, like long-range ATACMS missiles. These will improve Ukraine’s capability to threaten and destroy Russian military targets in occupied Crimea, forcing Russia to withdraw its equipment and enhancing Black Sea security. 

The US vote also provides an important boost to morale in Ukraine, restoring hope that Western partners are delivering on their promises and sending a powerful signal to Russia. Ukrainian soldiers have sent messages from the trenches, thanking the American people; MPs displayed American flags in Ukraine’s parliament.

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