Saying that the US Department of Defense has decided to provide an additional $2.98 billion in security assistance to Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), Kahl told reporters, “As you all are aware, this is the largest single security assistance package we have ever provided to support Ukraine.”

He also added that sending fighter aircraft to Ukraine remains on the table but final decisions have been made about that.

“It’s important for us that Ukraine survives and endures as a democratic, independent, sovereign country with its territorial integrity intact,” Kahl said elsewhere in his remarks.

He claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin has not given up on his overall strategic objectives of seizing most of Ukraine, toppling the regime, and reclaiming Ukraine as part of a new Russian Empire. That’s why packages like this are extraordinarily important, according to Kahl.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people “who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.” Following this, the US and its allies announced the introduction of sweeping sanctions against Russia and stepped up arms deliveries to Kyiv.