The announcement comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the White House to press for permission to fire long-range precision weapons into Russia, a longstanding plea that has gone unanswered.
Ukraine wants the ability to strike airfields and munitions depots inside Russia that have been used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to stage devastating attacks on residential neighborhoods and power plants.
President Joe Biden, in a statement, announced that he would send more than $5 billion in weapons from Pentagon stocks to Ukraine under authority granted by Congress before his term ends in January. In addition, the Pentagon will contract for another $2.4 billion for air defense weapons, drones and bombs.