The Biden administration is working on a plan to set in stone specific levels of military aid to be delivered to Ukraine over the next ten years, regardless of who occupies the White House, according to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
The ten-year bilateral agreement would include military aid, joint weapons production, and additional financial and unspecified “political support” and arrive at undisclosed, pre-planned levels over a decade, Zelensky said in a televised address on Sunday night, the transcript shows.
The news comes after a top advisor to Zelensky admitted that corruption is so rampant in Kyiv that government officials are enriching themselves by stealing US taxpayer aid money “like there’s no tomorrow.”
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In the same address, Zelensky begged for more military money and hardware from the US, including air defenses. Other countries have concluded similar negotiations with Ukraine, announced in a July joint declaration with partner nations, but “ours are still ongoing,” a National Security Council spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Also, our teams, Ukraine and the United States, are currently working on a bilateral security agreement, and we are already working on a specific text,” he said. “Our goal is to make this agreement the strongest of all. We are discussing the specific foundations of our security and cooperation.”
“We are also working on fixing specific levels of support for this year and for the next ten years, including armed support, financial, political, and joint arms production,” Zelenskyy said. “The agreement should be truly exemplary and reflect the strength of American leadership. I am grateful to both our team and the team of the American side for the progress in drafting the agreement.”
DailyCaller report: The U.S. has committed the equivalent of more than $50 billion in weapons and related equipment to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in February 2022, according to a Pentagon fact sheet. Washington remains the largest military supporter of Ukraine and has also contributed $23 billion in economic assistance and $2.7 billion in humanitarian aid as of Feb. 29, according to data compiled by the Kiel Institute.
Speaking Sunday with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Zelenskyy “underscored that Patriot systems are needed, and as soon as possible,” he said.
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On Sunday, Ukraine’s top commander said three more villages on the eastern front had fallen to Russia’s advances as Ukraine’s forces remain underpowered and undermanned, according to Reuters.
“The situation at the front has worsened,” Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on the Telegram social media app, Reuters reported. Russia’s forces are most concentrated west of occupied Maryinka and northwest of Avdiivka, a town Russia overran in February after months of brutal attrition warfare, he said.
Kyiv hopes the influx from $61 billion in newly-authorized U.S. aid — the first tranche of support was on its way within hours of Biden signing the bill into law — will boost the military and allow it to regain footing.
During a whirlwind tour around Washington to lobby for more aid in September 2023, Zelenskyy announced plans to work with American defense companies to co-produce weapons. He made the case that the weapons deal agreed to on that trip would boost Ukraine’s air defense capabilities and create jobs for both Americans and Ukrainians.
“And a long-term agreement — we will work together so that Ukraine produces the necessary weapons together with the United States. Co-production in the defense (sector) with the United States is a historic thing,” he said at the time.
