US announces $5.9 billion in military and budget aid to Ukraine
As President Joe Biden utilizes his last weeks in office, he announced on Monday nearly $6 billion of additional military and budget support for Ukraine.
Biden announced an additional $2.5 billion for security assistance to Ukraine.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced that the United States had provided $3.4 billion of additional budget assistance to Ukraine. This will provide the country with critical resources as Russian attacks against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure intensify.
In a press release, Biden stated that “United States will continue working relentlessly at my direction to strengthen Ukraine’s positions in this war for the remainder of my term in office.”
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Biden announced $1.25 billion of military aid from U.S. stocks and a $1.22 Billion Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package (USAI), the final USAI package during Biden’s tenure in office.
The military equipment purchased under USAI is not sourced from American stock, but from defense companies or their partners. This can mean that it takes months or even years for the military equipment to reach the battlefield.
Yellen stated in a press release that the direct budget support, provided in coordination between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department marked the final payment under the 2024 Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act.
According to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, the U.S. Congress approved $175 billion of total assistance for Ukraine after Russia invaded Ukraine almost three years ago. Recent Russian use of North Korean troops has bolstered their combat position.
John Kirby, White House spokesperson, said that North Korean forces have suffered mass casualties in Russia’s war on Ukraine. In the last week, 1,000 North Korean troops were killed or injured in Russia’s Kursk Region.
Biden said that the new assistance would provide Ukraine with an “immediate influx of capability which it continues to use in great effect on its battlefield, as well as longer-term supply of air defense systems, artillery and other critical weapon systems.”
Washington has provided billions in aid to Ukraine for nearly three years. However, it is unclear if this pace will continue under Trump who takes over from Biden on January 20.
Trump said that he wanted to end the war quickly.
During his presidential campaign, Trump questioned U.S. involvement and suggested European allies bear a greater financial burden.
Some of his Republican colleagues – who will be in control of both the House of Representatives as well as the Senate beginning next month – have also softened on sending more assistance to Kyiv.
An official from the United States said that the $3.4 billion budget funding brought the total U.S. budget assistance to Ukraine to just under $30 billion since the Russian invasion in February 2022. The majority of these funds is used to pay salaries to teachers, state employees and other government workers in order to keep Ukraine’s Government running.
Pentagon reports that Washington has provided Kyiv with security assistance worth approximately $61.4 billion since the beginning of the conflict.
Biden said that the Defense Department was in the process delivering hundreds and thousands of artillery shells, thousands of missiles, as well as hundreds of armored cars “which will help Ukraine to prepare for the winter”.
Yellen warned against any cuts to funding for Ukraine, saying that it was vital to continue providing government services to Ukraine and defending its sovereignty.
She said that “Ukraine’s success is America’s core national interests,” and pledged to continue to pressurize Moscow with sanctions, as well as to position Ukraine for a just peace.
We must not give up on this.
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