Reuters reported that on December 2, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the US will provide a $725 million arms package to Ukraine in the near future.
The move comes as the outgoing administration of President Joe Biden seeks to bolster support for Kiev in its war with Russia before leaving office in January 2025.
The aid package includes Stinger missiles, ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), drones, anti-personnel mines, and other equipment.
The announcement marks a significant increase in scale from Mr Biden's recent uses of Presidential Withdrawal Authority (PDA), which allows the US to take weapons from existing stocks to support allies in an emergency.
Recent PDA packages have typically ranged from $125 million to $250 million. Biden has received congressional authorization to use about $4 billion to $5 billion from the PDA, which he plans to spend on Ukraine before Republican President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20, 2025.
Mr Trump is expected to change US strategy towards Ukraine, after criticising the scale of Mr Biden's support for Kiev.
The arms aid package marks the first time in decades that the US has exported anti-personnel mines, a controversial weapon due to its potential to harm civilians.
Despite more than 160 countries signing a treaty banning the use of these weapons, Ukraine has been calling for aid since Russia launched a special military operation in early 2022. Russian forces have also used mines on the front line.
The anti-personnel mines sent to Ukraine are “non-persistent” in nature, with short-lived power systems that render them harmless afterwards.
