One of many main packages funding US help for Kiev has now run out, spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre has stated
The White Home is operating out of funds to finance arms deliveries to Ukraine, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has stated, urging Congress to approve US President Joe Biden’s request for extra assist that has been stonewalled by Republicans.
Talking to reporters aboard Air Drive One on Friday, the spokeswoman stated that the Pentagon had introduced new arms deliveries for Ukraine. The newest bundle, which is value $425 million, consists of HIMARS and NASAMS missiles, artillery rounds, and different army gear.
Of this sum, $300 million was from the Ukraine Safety Help Initiative (USAI), which the Pentagon makes use of to contract new gear for Kiev. The remaining $125 million got here from the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which permits the Biden administration to switch weapons from US shares with out congressional approval in case of an emergency.
Jean-Pierre famous that this bundle “exhaust[s] the remaining USAI funds at present obtainable to assist Ukraine.” She added that whereas the White Home nonetheless has PDA authorities to “fulfill Ukraine’s quick battlefield wants,” the US is beginning to present Kiev with “smaller PDA packages with the intention to stretch out our skill to assist Ukraine for so long as potential.”
With this in thoughts, she urged Congress to approve Biden’s supplemental assist request and ship “an vital message” to the world that the US continues to face with Ukraine.
Final month, the Biden administration requested US lawmakers to greenlight a safety bundle to the tune of greater than $100 billion, together with $61.4 billion for Ukraine, and $14.3 billion for Israel. However some Republicans have opposed assist to Ukraine, accusing Biden of missing a strategic imaginative and prescient for the battle and insisting on extra accountability. They’ve additionally insisted that the problems of assist to Israel and Ukraine be handled individually.
On Thursday, the GOP-controlled Home of Representatives handed a invoice on aiding Israel in its battle with Hamas, to which Democrats voiced robust opposition, with some accusing their colleagues throughout the isle of politicizing the problem. One other provision listed within the laws included defunding the Inner Income Service (IRS), additionally a non-starter for Democrats.
In the meantime, Mike Johnson, the newly put in Home speaker, has but to disclose his plans for Ukraine funding, vowing that the related discussions “will come in brief order.”
Russia has repeatedly warned the West towards sending weapons to Ukraine, arguing that doing so solely prolongs the battle whereas making it a direct participant within the hostilities.
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