Gaffe comes with latest package to Ukraine; US to put missiles back in Germany

(Originally published July 12 in “What in the World“) U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday announced another $225 million in new military aid to Ukraine.

Biden, who faces mounting calls to step aside in the campaign against Donald Trump due to his age, announced the latest package at the NATO summit in Washington, where he also introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a press conference as “President Putin.”

The latest package includes another Patriot missile battery, ammunition for Ukraine’s Nasams and Himars, more Stingers and more artillery shells. The weapons will come from the U.S. military’s existing arsenals, meaning the Pentagon will be able to replace them with newer, more expensive weapons. It also brings to $53.7 billion the total of military aid the U.S. has given Ukraine since Russia invaded. As thanks, Zelensky reiterated his call for the U.S. to lift its restrictions against using long-range Atacm missiles against targets inside Russia.

The U.S. and Germany also announced that the U.S. would return long-range missiles to Germany for the first time since the Cold War. The missiles were removed as part of a 1988 arms treaty between Washington and Moscow, but the U.S. pulled out of the treaty in 2019 after accusing Russia of violating it. The U.S. will begin deploying SM-6, Tomahawk, and hypersonic weapons in Germany in 2026. Russia’s deputy foreign minister responded by saying that Moscow would prepare countermeasures to the missiles’ deployment.