Biden: US to Announce $800+ Million in New Funding Package for Ukraine, Including Air Defense

Earlier in the week, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that a new defense package for Ukraine, that includes advanced medium and long-range air defense capabilities, was in the works.

The United States will announce over $800 million in new funding for Ukraine over the coming days, air defense included, US President Joe Biden said when speaking at the NATO summit in Madrid.

Kiev has already received over $12 billion in financial and military assistance since the start of Russia's military operation, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

Biden's announcement of the new funding package comes shortly after US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed that Washington was finalizing the deal that includes "advanced medium and long-range air defense capabilities for the Ukrainians, along with some other items that are of urgent need, including ammunition for artillery and counter-battery radar systems."

Despite Washington's sanctions against Russia and ongoing military support for Ukraine fueling the economic hardships in his own country, Biden said that the US, as well as its allies, will have to pay high prices for oil "as long as it takes".

According to the US president, Russia is the main culprit for higher gas prices.

"The reason why gas prices are up is because of Russia. Russia, Russia, Russia," he claimed.

During his remarks, Biden again pushed for a gas tax holiday and a cap on the price of Russian oil to try and ease the pain that US citizens are currently feeling at the pumps.

Biden's Thursday remarks appear to fall in line with the way he has blamed skyrocketing US inflation and high gas prices on the so-called "Putin price hike". However, even US officials have already acknowledged that inflation, for instance, "was high before" Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine.

Responding to "Putin's price hike" mantra, the Russian president pointed out that economic hardships faced by western countries are the sole result of the G7 countries' irresponsible actions, not Moscow's military operation.