Washington [US], February 1 (ANI/Sputnik): The United States will deliver additional shipments as part of the $200 million security package for Ukraine in the coming days, Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby said. “There will be more coming in the coming days,” Kirby said during a press briefing on Monday regarding US shipments of security assistance provided to Ukraine.
President Joe Biden approved a new $200 million security package for Ukraine in December, which includes Javelin anti-tank missiles. The increase in military assistance to Kiev comes amid increased tensions over Ukraine and claims by the United States and its European allies that Russia is planning to invade Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed the claims, saying it has no plans to attack any country. In addition, Russia has warned that NATO’s actions near its borders represent a national security threat and it reserves the right to move troops within its own sovereign territory. (ANI/Sputnik)
US to announce new ambassador to Ukraine ‘shortly’: State Dept
Washington [US], February 1 (ANI/Sputnik): The Biden administration will announce the nomination of the next US ambassador to Ukraine in the very near future, US State Department spokesperson New Price said.
Earlier on Monday, administration sources told CNN that President Joe Biden has chosen the current US Ambassador to Slovakia, Bridget Brink, to be the country’s new ambassador to Ukraine. Biden has not yet nominated Brink given that the administration is waiting on formal approval from the Ukrainian government. “I am not in the position to confirm that. As you know, the nominations are emanated from the White House, but the Secretary [of State Anthony Blinken] was asked about it when he was in Kiev the other day and he noted that we expect the nomination to be forthcoming shortly,” Price told reporters during a press briefing on Monday.
The position of US ambassador to Ukraine has been vacant since the departure of the previous envoy, Marie Yovanovitch, in May of 2019. Yovanovitch was removed from her post by former President Donald Trump. The dismissal came at a time when Trump’s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was investigating the then-Democratic presidential candidate Biden and his son Hunter Biden over their alleged corrupt practices in Ukraine during the Obama administration. (ANI/Sputnik)
