Minister of Defence of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov held a phone call with his American counterpart Lloyd Austin. The conversation took place on 9 May, against the background of the signing of the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act by U.S. President Joe Biden.
The defence departments' heads discussed the situation on the battlefield and Ukraine's needs in weaponry, Reznikov wrote on Twitter.
"I’m grateful to our friend the Secretary of Defence and the US in general for steadfast commitment and support," – he noted.
Yesterday was an important evening.On the backdrop of the signing of Lend-Lease Act I spoke with @SecDef Lloyd J. Austin III.We discussed situation on the battlefield & weapons needs for 🇺🇦.I’m grateful to our friend #SecDef & US in general for steadfast commitment&support 🇺🇦🤝🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/h4IpVFgWW7
— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) May 10, 2022
On 9 May, Biden signed Ukraine Lend-Lease Act. He mentioned that this step is not cheap but "caving to aggression is even more costly".
Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act 2022 will accelerate providing Ukraine with crucial military weapons and other vital materials without bureaucracy. It de facto enables renting out equipment.
Lend-lease was adopted for the first time in 1941. Under this system, the United States provided the allies in the war with essential ammunition, equipment, food, and oil products. It included handing over for free use the necessary war supplies which, after the war, was returned to the U.S. if the need occurred. If the equipment was destroyed it wasn't paid for.
You can read more about the program in the LB.ua story "Lend-lease for Ukraine: the U.S. taking an extreme measure in weapons supply".