The U.S. has moved a massive amount of arms into Ukraine since Russia's invasion, but the window is closing

French arms headed to Ukraine
(Image credit: Daniel Mihailescu/AFP/Getty Images)

Within 48 hours of President Biden approving a $350 million security aid package for Ukraine on Feb. 26, two days after Russia invaded the country, the first shipment of U.S. weapons were arriving at airfields near Ukraine's border, ready for transfer to Ukrainian Soviet-era transport planes, U.S. officials tell The New York Times. "In less than a week, the United States and NATO have pushed more than 17,000 antitank weapons, including Javelin missiles, over the borders of Poland and Romania," to Kyiv and other major cities.

The "vast majority" of the $350 million package, or about $240 million worth of arms, has already been delivered to Ukraine, and the rest should cross the border in days or weeks, "but not longer," a U.S. official told CNN on Friday. So far, the Times reports, "Russian forces have been so preoccupied in other parts of the country that they have not targeted the arms supply lines, but few think that can last."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.