United States President Joe Biden approved Wednesday an additional $800 million in security assistance, including deployment of longer-range weapons and drones, to Ukraine, assuring the ally "unprecedented" U.S. support in its war with Russia.
Addressing his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy's remarks in his speech, Biden said the U.S. has offered Ukraine $1 billion in security aid, adding the U.S. will continue to give Ukraine weapons to fight and defend itself, offer humanitarian relief and support Ukraine's economy with additional financial assistance.
"These are direct transfers of equipment from our Department of Defense to the Ukrainian military to help them as they fight against this invasion," said Biden, who also announced U.S. help for Ukraine to acquire "additional longer-range anti-aircraft systems."
As expected, Biden gave no ground on the notion of a Western-imposed no-fly zone over the ex-Soviet state, which NATO has consistently rejected for fear of an escalation that could bring the alliance into direct conflict with Russian forces.
Ramping up its military assistance instead, the White House said Ukraine will receive an additional 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 9,000 anti-tank weapons, 7,000 light weapons and 20 million rounds of ammunition.
And the United States will be providing Ukraine with 100 drones or Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems – which Biden said "demonstrates our commitment to sending our most cutting-edge systems to Ukraine for its defense."
Concerning the deployment of longer-range systems, Gregory Meeks, the chairperson of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, indicated the weapons involved would be Soviet-made S-300 surface-to-air missile systems.
"These S-300s and longer-range artillery forces are what will help close the sky" over Ukraine, Meeks said on CNN following Biden's address.
"President Zelenskyy is not asking for American troops or American equipment or anything of that nature to close the skies," Meeks said. "What he's asking for is the artillery that will do that. The S-300 may be the one that does that."
In his address to Congress, Zelenskyy compared the attacks in Ukraine to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that pulled the United States into World War II, and begged lawmakers, and Biden directly, for more help.
"This is a terror that Europe has not seen for 80 years, and we are asking for our life, for an answer to this terror from the whole world. Is this a lot to ask for? To create a no-fly zone over Ukraine to save people?" Zelenskyy asked through an interpreter.
"If this is too much to ask, we offer an alternative," he said. "You know what kind of defense systems we need," adding that he knows the U.S. has them.
Biden has referred to the creation of a no-fly zone over Ukraine as "World War III," and the Pentagon has refused requests to send fighter jets to Ukraine.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russia and Ukraine both emphasized newfound scope for compromise as peace talks were set to resume three weeks into a Russian assault that has so far failed to topple the Ukrainian government.
On Tuesday, the White House said Biden will travel to Brussels for a March 24 NATO summit on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow terms a "special military operation" to disarm and "denazify" its neighbor.
Biden has ratcheted up sanctions imposed on Russia in recent days. He has called for a suspension of Russia's trading status that affords its exported products lower tariffs in the international arena and announced a ban on Russian oil and other energy imports.
