Biden makes surprise visit to Ukraine as war nears one-year mark
Fox News’ Steve Harrigan reports from Kyiv on President Biden’s visit, during which he announced another $500 million in aid, and Ukrainian President Zelenskyy called it the most important visit in Ukraine’s history.
President Joe Biden announced during his surprise trip to Ukraine on Monday that the U.S. will be providing nearly $500 million in additional security assistance to the country amid its ongoing war with Russia.
The package includes additional rocket system ammunition, mortar and artillery rounds, radar equipment, anti-armor weaponry, four Bradley Fighting Vehicles, two tactical vehicles for equipment recovery, Claymore anti-personnel mines, demolition munitions, night-vision equipment, communications equipment, medical supplies, spare parts and other field equipment.
According to the Department of Defense, the package is valued at up to $460 million and will be the Biden administration's 32nd drawdown of equipment from DOD inventories for Ukraine.
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President Joe Biden, left, walks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during Biden's surprise visit to Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, on Feb. 20, 2023. (Evan Vucci / Pool / AFP via Getty Images)
Biden's surprise trip to Ukraine sparked widespread criticism that he would visit the country before making a trip to the town of East Palestine, Ohio, which was rocked by a devastating toxic train derailment earlier this month and has upended the lives of those Ohioans living in the area.
That comes in addition to the criticism he's already faced for providing what some have called a blank check to Ukraine, arguing that there is no verification system in place to ensure equipment and money are being used properly and accusing the administration of putting the U.S. on the verge of war with Russia.
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President Joe Biden speaks at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Mariinsky Palace during a surprise visit on Feb. 20, 2023, in Kyiv. (Evan Vucci / Pool / AFP via Getty Images)
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called Biden's approach to funding Ukraine "unacceptable" and told "Fox & Friends" after the news of Biden's trip broke that he opposes the policy because there is "no clear strategic objective identified" in the administration's funding of Ukraine. He added that it isn't in America's best interest to be "getting into a proxy war with China, getting involved over things like the borderlands or over Crimea."
Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 last year but failed to capture the capital, Kyiv, before refocusing its operations on the Donbas region as well as the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
A man pushes his bike through debris and destroyed Russian military vehicles on a street in Bucha, Ukraine, on April 6, 2022. (Chris McGrath / Getty Images)
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The one-year mark of the invasion, which has claimed thousands of lives on both sides, is on Friday.
According to the Ukrainian government, the U.S. leads all countries with $196 billion in total military, financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine between Jan. 24, 2022, through Nov. 20, 2022. Germany has sent the second-most funds, with $172 billion sent in that span.
Fox News' Liz Friden contributed to this report.
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