U.S. Representatives Peter Meijer (R-MI), Andy Kim (D-NJ), and Jason Crow (D-CO) today sent a bipartisan letter to President Joe Biden urging him to provide additional military aid to Ukraine as they fight back against Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion.

The letter is signed by members of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, and Armed Services Committees as well as the bipartisan Ukraine Caucus. The letter outlines the specific needs of the Ukrainian military and Territorial Defense Forces that were relayed to the members following substantial interactions with Ukrainian officials and U.S. national security experts.

“As the war in Ukraine continues, members of Congress hear repeatedly from Ukrainian representatives about their specific military needs,” said Rep. Meijer. “While we’ve taken many decisive actions to counter Vladimir Putin’s illegal war, more can and must be done. The U.S. is positioned to help the Ukrainian military remain aggressive by air, land, and sea. The Biden Administration must act now to bolster Ukraine’s efforts to combat Putin and his military.”

“There is an opportunity here to make a huge impact in helping the Ukrainian people defend themselves against Putin’s invasion. Ukrainian leadership is asking the world to help them, and we feel the United States needs to act,” said Rep. Kim. “This bipartisan group understands that security comes from strong diplomacy and a country’s ability to defend itself. We’re urging President Biden to listen to Ukrainian leaders and provide the support that they and the Ukrainian people are asking the world to provide.

“Ukraine’s fight for freedom and democracy is a fight they must win. The Ukrainians can win, but they will need more support in the months ahead,” said Rep. Crow. “That’s why I’m leading my colleagues to ask for increased military support for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters. This is a watershed moment in the battle for democracy, and we must win.”

The letter urges President Biden and the Pentagon to provide additional military aid to Ukraine, affording them the opportunity to push back against Russian invaders. The revelations of war crimes in Bucha this weekend underscore the moral imperative for the United States and our allies to provide military aid to prevent further and future atrocities.

The full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear President Biden,

As members of the House Armed Services, Intelligence, and Foreign Affairs Committees, as well as members of the bipartisan Ukraine Caucus, we have had substantial interactions with Ukrainian representatives and U.S. national security professionals regarding the situation on the ground in Ukraine and the specific needs for the Ukrainian military and Territorial Defense Forces. We recognize that the United States and its allies and partners have already provided substantial military aid, in response to the Russian invasion, including a portion of the $13.6 billion in emergency funds through the FY 22 Omnibus Appropriations bill. However, Ukrainians are clear that more needs to be done for Ukraine to win this war.

Based on our engagements, oversight, and specific requests by Ukrainian officials, we believe there are three critical areas where further U.S. assistance is necessary:

Defend the Skies Over Ukraine

• Increase resupply of Stinger missiles and other air defense systems that have already been provided to defend Ukraine. The Ukrainian military, due to low stocks, is pacing themselves and cannot engage in the full measure of resistance.


• Provide Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (SAM) Systems. Currently, the Ukrainians are unable to intercept high-altitude targets. There is an urgent need for long-range SAM systems to protect against the rockets coming from Russian military units and ships.


• Equip the Ukrainian Air Force with aircraft that can fight air to air, and air to ground. Ukrainian forces are skillfully using their fighter aircraft, but they are running low and need to be resupplied as damage to the existing aircraft is diminishing Ukraine’s air capabilities. Ukraine has more than enough pilots trained to fly additional aircraft if supplied. Additional aircraft would also allow Ukrainian forces to provide a more adequate defense of urban areas like Kharkiv and Mariupol, where numerous civilian casualties have occurred following Russian attacks.


• Provide a greater range of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) capabilities. Providing Ukraine more advanced UAS capable of longer ranges (e.g. Bayraktar TB-2), will allow them to better disrupt Russian supply lines and counter Russian siege tactics, especially in Eastern Ukraine. Providing additional offensive strike capabilities (e.g. Switchblade 300) and UAS to conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions (e.g. Fly-Eye 3.0, WARMITE 3.0) is necessary to counter Russian UAS and inform Ukrainian military decisions.


• Provide additional tactical radar and counter-fire systems. Providing both tactical radar systems (e.g. LSTAR, SRC V2/V3, Squire, AN/MPQ-64) and counter-fire radar systems (e.g AN/TPQ-36, AN/TPQ-37, AN/TPQ-49, and AN/TPQ-50) will expand early-warning capabilities and allow Ukraine to use their counter-battery fire systems more effectively


• Provide electronic warfare (EW) systems. Providing EW systems to counter Russian drones and jam communication lines would severely degrade Russian military operations.

Counter Russian Naval Attacks

• Provide anti-ship missiles. Russian naval vessels are currently launching attacks against Ukrainian civilians and being used to resupply ground forces. In addition to missile defense capabilities to counter these strikes, Ukraine could use anti-ship missiles to target the Russian fleet, and the U.S. should provide these weapons to Ukraine.

Increase Ukrainian Ground Combat Capabilities

• Similar to the request for Stinger missiles, Ukraine is requesting increased flow of Javelin missiles and other anti-tank assets. We should fulfill this request and ensure we have sufficient production levels of Javelins and Stingers to provide supplies to Ukraine and to backfill stocks of allies.


• Provide additional missile, rocket, and artillery systems (e.g. Buk-M1, Tochka-U, MLRS, and M109 Paladin) to increase Ukraine’s offensive strike capability.


• Supply additional armored vehicles. Ukraine is involved in fierce urban combat where additional armored vehicles would allow them to better defend these areas and conduct a greater number of medical evacuations.


• Supply advanced weapons optics, spotting equipment, and personal night vision devices (e.g. TSR-1X Red Dot Sight, AO-4465 thermal sight, and PVS-14/PVS-31) to expand the operational capability of Ukrainian warfighters.


• Provide Role I and Role II capable mobile hospitals to rapidly provide additional medical support to military personnel and Role III field hospital center capabilities across the border in Poland.

Thank you very much for your time and attention to our requests. Ukraine has provided a list of seventeen urgent needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in priority order to Congress and the administration. We hope to work with you to provide Ukraine with as much equipment as possible from this list in a timely manner. If you are unable to fulfill any of the requests, we respectfully request your reasoning as to why certain items cannot be provided. This is the time to reaffirm our commitment to defending democracy abroad, and we offer you our assistance in the defense of Ukraine in cooperation with our allies. We look forward to working together to ensure a free and independent Ukraine.