U.S. weapons package for Ukraine includes 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles -officials - Reuters.com

WASHINGTON, Jan 5 (Reuters) - A caller U.S. weapons bundle for Ukraine volition see astir 50 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 2 U.S. officials said connected Thursday, with 1 of the officials saying the bundle volition beryllium worthy astir $2.8 billion.

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden said that sending the Bradleys, a U.S. Army staple, to Ukraine was being considered to assistance combat Russia's invasion. Russia's ambassador accused the United States of plotting a "dangerous course."

The latest information bundle for Ukraine is expected to beryllium unveiled connected Friday, the officials said.

Of the astir $2.8 cardinal package, astir $800 cardinal of the funds came from Foreign Military Financing to assistance Ukraine procure weapons, 1 authoritative said. The equilibrium of the funds came from Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) for Ukraine, which allows the United States to transportation defence articles similar Humvees, trucks and munitions from stocks rapidly without legislature support successful effect to an emergency.

The armored conveyance with a almighty gun, which is manufactured by BAE Systems Plc (BAES.L), has been utilized arsenic a staple by the U.S. Army to transportation troops astir battlefields since the mid-1980s.

The Army has thousands of Bradleys, which could springiness the Ukrainians much firepower connected the battlefield. Biden's move, however, is abbreviated of sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine, which the Ukrainians person been requesting.

Late past month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the U.S. Congress that the tens of billions of dollars of assistance it had approved to assistance Ukraine combat the Russian penetration was not charity, but an concern successful planetary security.

The United States has sent astir $21.3 cardinal successful information assistance to Kyiv arsenic Europe's biggest onshore struggle since 1945 grinds on, sidesplitting tens of thousands.

The size of Friday's information assistance bundle was not instantly clear. The White House declined to comment.

Russia's ambassador successful Washington said the Bradleys "decision" showed Moscow's U.S. interlocutors "have not adjacent tried to perceive to our galore calls to instrumentality into relationship imaginable consequences of specified a unsafe people by Washington."

Ambassador Anatoly Antonov, successful comments published successful Russian and English connected the Facebook leafage of the Russian embassy, said determination could beryllium nary much speech of weapons transfers being of a antiaircraft nature.

The administration's actions, helium said successful remarks framed arsenic responses to media questions, "indicate a deficiency of immoderate tendency for a governmental settlement."

The United States has progressively sent much susceptible weapons to Ukraine. As the warfare progressed and Ukraine's needs changed, much analyzable weapons systems, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), were shipped to Kyiv.

Most recently, the United States pledged to nonstop a Patriot rocket strategy to repel Russian rocket and drone attacks. Training and different logistics inactive request to beryllium worked out.

The Army is moving to discontinue its Bradley fleet, and is moving with manufacture to physique a replacement arsenic it seeks to modernize.

Reporting By Steve Holland, Mike Stone and Elaine Monaghan; Editing by Leslie Adler and Raju Gopalakrishnan

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