"The Pentagon has more than $5 billion remaining in its coffers to provide weaponry and other security assistance to Ukraine even after Congress declined to include more funding for the conflict in a weekend bill to keep the government open, Pentagon officials said.
The $5.2 billion is roughly equivalent to the value of the weaponry the Biden administration has sent to Ukraine over the last six months for its fight against Russia, but administration officials said it is unclear how long that money could last.
A number of factors contribute to the rate at which security aid flows to Kyiv, and officials believe the $5.2 billion could last only for another few months.
The sum is roughly about 12% of the total $43.9 billion in security assistance that the U.S. has sent since Russia's February 2022 events, leaving a sizable amount of security assistance still available.
But another pot of money the U.S. had been using for a longer-term program to refurbish Ukraine's military and make it more compatible with North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces, the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, is empty, administration officials said.
What's more, an account used to replenish the Defense Department's own arsenal after the provision of U.S. arms to Ukraine is now down to about $1.6 billion -- insufficient to keep the Pentagon whole, officials said.
Aid packages have typically come every two weeks, and the next could come by the end of this week, officials said. But without knowing when Congress will approve more funds, the Pentagon might be reluctant to continue providing regular tranches of new equipment in order to save money to replenish the U.S. military's own stocks, or in case of a national security emergency, at least until Nov. 17, when the current funding bill runs out, a Senate aide said.
The short-term spending bill signed by President Biden on Saturday averted a partial government shutdown but omitted aid for Ukraine, raising questions about the future of U.S. support. The administration had sought another $24 billion in Ukraine funding.
Despite dire warnings from the Biden administration about the impact on Kyiv's conflict effort, the threat to security assistance for Ukraine is more likely to emerge in the long term, and U.S. officials said the political uncertainty in Washington sends a terrible signal to the international community that Biden has rallied in support of Kyiv's fight against Russia. Ukraine's supporters fear President Vladimir Putin of Russia will come to believe he can wait out the U.S. The Kremlin is girding for a longer conflict, making big increases to military spending.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke Sunday with his counterpart in Ukraine, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, to "reiterate" U.S. support for Ukraine, the Pentagon said.
The U.S. has given Ukraine a vast range of military materiel, including tanks, helicopters, advanced guided missile launchers, and millions of rounds of ammunition. The assistance enabled Kyiv to stave off and beat back Russia that many initially thought would quickly succeed in toppling the Kyiv government, and even regain some ground Russia took in its initial push.
So far, the weekend snag in funding for Ukraine hasn't forced the administration to begin rethinking the future of U.S. support for the conflict in Ukraine, officials said, even as a group of hard-right Republican lawmakers has begun to undermine the otherwise bipartisan, bicameral support for Kyiv.
"Nobody is hitting the panic button over here," one U.S. official said.
On Monday, Biden said he expected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the Republican House majority to pass more Ukraine aid.
"We cannot under any circumstances allow American support for Ukraine to be interrupted," Biden said. "Too many lives are at stake, too many children [1] and too many people."
McCarthy (R., Calif.) signaled on Monday he would link future Ukraine aid to strict Republican border security proposals. "I have been very clear from the very beginning, I have voted to arm Ukraine," he said. "America takes first priority here. And our border has got to be secure."
The $5.2 billion the Pentagon has remaining comes after it discovered an accounting error in May, essentially giving it more money for Ukraine than it thought it had. In addition, the Pentagon has about $1.6 billion in money it uses to draw from to replenish its own stocks of weaponry it has provided to Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials sought to temper doubts about U.S. support for its conflict effort against Russia. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba of Ukraine said discussions with Republicans and Democrats were continuing and that the omission was an isolated event.
"We are now working with both sides of Congress so that it does not happen again under any circumstances," he said. "Therefore, we do not believe that U.S. support has faltered."" [2]
1. Everything we do here is for the children of Ukraine. Every cluster weapon demanded by Lithuanian Defense Minister Mr. Anušauskas is intended to kill Ukrainian children decades after the end of the conflict. Anušauskas quickly realized that children are not people, because they are easily produced with all the students that only you like. Jews have long said that a child is not born until it has received a degree as a medical doctor or a lawyer.
2. Pentagon Weapons For Kyiv To Dry Up In Months --- Defense officials say $5.2 billion won't last long if Congress fails to fund Ukraine aid. Lubold, Gordon; Wise, Lindsay. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 03 Oct 2023: A.1.
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