Biden administration announces $988M in aid to Ukraine on same day Trump meets with Zelenskyy in Paris

"This administration has made its choice. And so has a bipartisan coalition in Congress. The next administration must make its own choice," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California. "But, from this library, from this podium, I am confident that President Reagan would have stood on the side of Ukraine, American security and human freedom." 

The aid package is provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and "will provide Ukraine with munitions for rocket systems and unmanned aerial systems," a release from the administration said. "This package also includes support for maintenance and repair programs to help Ukraine reconstitute its forces and build and sustain combat power." 

Vance also suggested earlier this year that the best way to end the war was for Ukraine to cede the land Russia has seized and for a demilitarized zone to be established, a proposal Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flatly rejected. 

Recently, Zelenskyy has said he is more open to negotiations in the war and has called for Ukraine to be allowed to join NATO. 

The Biden administration has committed to giving Ukraine as much aid as possible before Trump takes office in January. 

"Between now and mid-January, we will deliver hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of additional rockets and other critical capabilities to help Ukraine defend its freedom and independence." 

Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "President Biden has committed to making sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and Jan. 20." 

Saturday's announcement marks the administration's 22nd aid package through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. 

This week, House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected a request by the administration for Congress to authorize $24 billion in additional funding.

"It is not the place of Joe Biden to make that decision now," Johnson said. "We have a newly elected president, and we're going to wait and take the new commander in chief's direction on all that. So, I don't expect any Ukraine funding to come up now."