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Biden Announces $2.5 Billion in Fresh Military Aid to Ukraine

US President Joe Biden speaks at the Company House Hotel, in Christiansted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, December 29, 2024. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
US President Joe Biden speaks at the Company House Hotel, in Christiansted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, December 29, 2024. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
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Biden Announces $2.5 Billion in Fresh Military Aid to Ukraine

US President Joe Biden speaks at the Company House Hotel, in Christiansted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, December 29, 2024. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno
US President Joe Biden speaks at the Company House Hotel, in Christiansted, St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, December 29, 2024. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno

US President Joe Biden announced $2.5 billion in additional security assistance for Ukraine on Monday as he uses his final weeks in office to surge military aid to Kyiv before President-elect Donald Trump takes power.
"At my direction, the United States will continue to work relentlessly to strengthen Ukraine’s position in this war over the remainder of my time in office," Reuters quoted Biden as saying in a statement.
Biden's announcement includes $1.25 billion in military aid drawn from US stockpiles and a $1.22 billion Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) package, the final USAI package of Biden's time in office.
Under USAI, military equipment is procured from the defense industry or partners, rather than drawn from American stocks, meaning it can take months or years to arrive on the battlefield.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is approaching the three-year mark and recently the Russians have used North Korean troops to bolster their fighting position.
North Korean forces are experiencing mass casualties on the front lines of Russia's war against Ukraine, with 1,000 of their troops killed or wounded in the last week alone in Russia's Kursk region, White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday.
In a statement, Biden said the new assistance will provide Ukraine with "an immediate influx of capabilities that it continues to use to great effect on the battlefield and longer-term supplies of air defense, artillery, and other critical weapons systems."
Nearly three years into the war, Washington has committed $175 billion in total aid for Ukraine, but it is uncertain if the aid will continue at that pace under Trump, who replaces Biden on Jan. 20. Trump has said he wants to bring the war to a swift end. During the presidential election campaign, Trump questioned the level of US involvement in the conflict, suggesting European allies should bear more of the financial burden.
Some of his fellow Republicans - who will control both the House of Representatives and Senate starting next month - have also cooled on sending more aid to Kyiv.
Biden said the Defense Department is in the process of delivering hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, thousands of rockets, and hundreds of armored vehicles "which will strengthen Ukraine’s hand as it heads into the winter."

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Strong Earthquake Kills at Least 126 People in Tibet

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)
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Strong Earthquake Kills at Least 126 People in Tibet

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, rescue workers search for survivors in the aftermath of an earthquake in Changsuo Township of Dingri in Xigaze, southwestern China's Tibet Autonomous Region on Tuesday, Jan. 7, 2025. (Xinhua via AP)

 A strong earthquake shook a high-altitude region of western China and areas of Nepal on Tuesday, damaging hundreds of houses, littering streets with rubble and killing at least 126 people in Tibet. Many others were trapped as dozens of aftershocks shook the remote region.
Rescue workers climbed mounds of broken bricks, some using ladders in heavily damaged villages, as they searched for survivors. Videos posted by China's Ministry of Emergency Management showed two people being carried on stretchers by workers treading over the debris from collapsed homes.
At least 188 people were injured in Tibet on the Chinese side of the border, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
More than 1,000 homes were damaged in the barren and sparsely populated region, state broadcaster CCTV reported. In video posted by the broadcaster, building debris littered streets and crushed cars.
According to The AP, people in northeastern Nepal strongly felt the earthquake, but there were no initial reports of injuries or damage, according to the country's National Emergency Operation Center. The area around Mount Everest, about 75 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the epicenter, was empty in the depth of winter when even some residents move away to escape the cold.
The quake woke up residents in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu — about 230 kilometers (140 miles) from the epicenter — and sent them running into the streets.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake measured magnitude 7.1 and was relatively shallow at a depth of about 10 kilometers (6 miles). China's Earthquake Networks Center recorded the magnitude as 6.8. Shallow earthquakes often cause more damage.
The epicenter was in Tibet's Tingri county, where the India and Eurasia plates grind against each other and can cause earthquakes strong enough to change the heights of some of the world’s tallest peaks in the Himalayan mountains.
There have been 10 earthquakes of at least magnitude 6 in the area where Tuesday’s quake hit over the past century, the USGS said.
About 150 aftershocks were recorded in the nine hours after the earthquake, and the Mount Everest scenic area on the Chinese side was closed.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping called for all-out efforts to rescue people, minimize casualties and resettle those whose homes were damaged. More than 3,000 rescuers were deployed, CCTV said.
Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing was dispatched to the area to guide the work, and the government announced the allocation of 100 million yuan ($13.6 million) for disaster relief.
About 6,900 people live in three townships and 27 villages within 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) of the epicenter on the Chinese side, state media said. The average altitude in the area is about 4,200 meters (13,800 feet), the Chinese earthquake center said in a social media post.
On the southwest edge of Kathmandu, a video showed water spilling out into the street from a pond in a courtyard with a small temple.
“It is a big earthquake," a woman can be heard saying. "People are all shaking.”