US aid to Ukraine slowed down in 2024, showed aim to build its air defense

The total value of US military aid to Ukraine decreased on the year to around $19.488 billion by the end of 2024, with Washington adjusting its strategy to build Kyiv’s defense capacities, especially air defense systems, a Sputnik analysis of official figures from the US Department of Defense (DoD) showed, Report informs.

Although the US Congress delayed approving the first military aid package to Ukraine this year, which was announced only on March 12, it did not impact later assistance, as the Biden administration rushed to allocate funds to Kyiv before Donald Trump's inauguration as president on January 20.

When the US Congress finally passed the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act 2024 on April 23, the new law included about $60 billion worth of security supplemental package for Kyiv, a DoD report said at the time.

The Biden administration wasted no time by announcing additional military aid packages for Ukraine in the next few days, including $1 billion package through the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) on April 24 and $6 billion package through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) on April 26.

In total, the US has announced 18 tranches of military aid worth around $6.4 billion to Ukraine through PDA since the beginning of 2024.

In addition, the Biden administration has provided 5 tranches of military aid worth around $13.088 billion to Ukraine through USAI in 2024.

As a result, the total value of US military aid to Ukraine, through both PDA and USAI, reached around $19.488 billion by the end of this year.

In comparison, US military aid to Ukraine was about $24.7 billion in 2023, including $12.95 billion through PDA and $11.75 billion through USAI.