Editor’s Note: The following is the official statement by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Ukraine security assistance on June 18, 2021.
The idea that we have held back security assistance to Ukraine is nonsense. Just last week – in the run-up to the U.S.-Russia Summit – we provided a $150 million package of security assistance, including lethal assistance. We have now provided the entire amount appropriated by Congress through the Ukraine security assistance initiative. Two days before the Summit, President Biden stood on the stage before the entire world at NATO and said that we would keep putting Ukraine “in the position to be able to continue to resist Russian physical aggression.” We have also prepared contingency funds in the event of a further Russian incursion into Ukraine. As President Biden told President Putin directly, we will stand unwavering in support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
