WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will soon announce more than $2.3 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart at the Pentagon.
Austin also gave a nod to Ukraine's aspirations to eventually join NATO. At next week's NATO summit in Washington D.C., Austin said: "We will take steps to build a bridge to NATO membership for Ukraine."
Austin did not elaborate.
Ukrainian officials have been urging their allies for months to supply more air defense systems to defend against frequent missile and drone attacks from Russian forces following Moscow's 2022 invasion.
Austin said the latest weapons package for Ukraine would include arms like anti-tank weapons and air defense interceptors and will allow accelerated procurement of NASAMS and Patriot air defense interceptors.
"I am proud that the United States will soon announce more than $2.3 billion in new security assistance for Ukraine," Austin said, speaking at the top of a meeting with Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.
"This package, under presidential drawdown authority, will provide more air defense interceptors, anti-tank weapons and other critical munitions from the U.S. inventories."
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
