White House signals it’s running out of funding to support Ukraine
Global News
A new US$$425 million arms package announced Friday uses the last of what's currently available in a US$18 billion fund dedicated to Ukraine
The White House on Friday suggested it is beginning to run out of available funding to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion, once again calling on Congress to approve more.
Earlier Friday, the Biden administration announced it was sending another US$425 million worth of additional arms and equipment to Ukraine. Most of the money — around US$300 million — is being drawn from the US$18-billion Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which funds contracts for weapons built or modified by defence companies.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed the new aid package “exhaust(s) the remaining USAI funds currently available to support Ukraine.”
The package also includes about US$125 million in weapons and equipment through presidential drawdown authority (PDA), which pulls weapons from existing U.S. stockpiles. But Jean-Pierre suggested those funds are running out as well.
“(While) we do have remaining PDA authorities to continue to fulfill Ukraine’s immediate battlefield needs, we’re beginning to provide Ukraine with smaller PDA packages in order to stretch out our ability to support Ukraine for as long as possible,” she said, according to a transcript of the conversation provided by the White House.
The Biden administration still has about US$5 billion of congressionally-granted presidential drawdown authority, after the Pentagon found in June it had overestimated the value of arms shipped to Ukraine due to a US$6.2 billion accounting error.
U.S. President Joe Biden last month asked Congress to pass a nearly US$106-billion emergency aid package that includes US$61.4 billion for Ukraine, along with smaller amounts for Israel, Indo-Pacific security, protection and enforcement at the U.S.-Mexico border and humanitarian assistance in Gaza and elsewhere.
The Republican-led House of Representatives on Thursday passed a US$14.3-billion military aid bill for Israel, matching Biden’s request for that country but ignoring the other priorities. The bill, which offsets the aid with government spending cuts, has little chance of becoming law.
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