PNN – John Kirby, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said that the administration has exhausted the available budget for military aid to Ukraine and “there is no other magic resource to use” unless Congress decides to approve a new package.
According to Pakistan News Network, the US State Department announced a $250 million military aid package to Ukraine on December 27, 2023, and thus used all the US budget for Ukraine.
US Senate Republicans in early December 2023 blocked a bill containing $61.4 billion in aid to Ukraine because the bill did not contain tough measures on US border and immigration policy.
John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator and spokesman for the US National Security Council, said that despite the delay between the approval of the budget packages and their actual delivery, Ukraine will still receive the equipment allocated on December 27 in the “coming days and weeks”.
Kirby added that after the aid ends, “nothing can be done” unless Congress makes a new decision.
He said: “The president [Joe Biden] signed the last package [of military aid to Ukraine] that we had funds for and that’s it. “Now [Congress] needs to approve [more funding] so we can continue to support Ukraine.”
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He continued: The last aid package to Ukraine, which was signed by Biden on December 27 of last year, has not yet been fully presented to Kyiv, and its completion may take several weeks.
Independent US Sen. Kristen Sinema said on January 3 that the Senate was “reaching” a deal on border security measures that would pave the way for passage of a budget package for Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden has asked Congress to allocate another $61 billion worth of aid to Ukraine, but Republicans have refused to approve it without an agreement with Democrats to tighten security measures on the US-Mexico border.
Congress has approved more than $110 billion for the country since Russia invaded Ukraine, but has not approved any funding since Republicans took control of the House from Democrats in January 2023.
On February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin, criticizing the West’s indifference to Moscow’s security concerns, recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in the Donbas region.
Three days after that, Putin launched a military operation, which he called “special operations”, against Ukraine, thus turning the tense Moscow-Kiev relationship into a military confrontation, and this war is still ongoing.
Ukraine’s summer counterattack at the end of 2023 did not bring much results, and now despite Ukraine’s fatigue and the unwillingness of Western countries to support Kiev, a long war should be expected. European Union countries have pledged to provide Ukraine with about one million artillery shells by the end of next year, and despite the fact that the war has turned into a war of attrition, it seems unlikely that this promise will be fulfilled.