Ukraine hopes to receive up to $1.6 billion in several tranches from the United States to help domestic weapons production and long-range capabilities, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in comments released for publication Tuesday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced $400 million in aid during his visit to Kyiv on Monday, and Zelenskyy said that Washington was also preparing two more packages to help Ukraine battle a more than 2½-year-old Russian invasion.

"In the coming days, another package should be for $800 million. Those $800 million are the first tranche for our production, our long-range capabilities," Zelenskyy told media on Monday. "Then there should be the next tranche also for long-distance capabilities worth $700-800 million."