White House wants to raise funding for Ukraine aid as existing funds dry up

President Joe Biden’s administration is preparing a proposal for a new round of funding for defence aid for Ukraine as the US$48 billion Ukraine aid package that Congress approved in December is expected to dry up in the next few months.

Source: Politico

Details: According to Politico, the $48 billion Ukraine aid package that Congress approved in December "has about $6 billion left, meaning US funding for weapons and supplies could dry up by midsummer."

A senior Biden administration official told Politico that the White House was discussing a new package, timed to keep support for Ukraine flowing.

The situation, however, is complicated by the fact that it might run into the opposition from a "small but vocal" group of fiscally conservative Republicans in the Congress.

The White House is still in the talks with the Republicans demanding that Biden slash spending in return for raising the debt ceiling. The 2024 defence budget is at stake, and financing aid for Ukraine might be complicated by these circumstances.

Though both Republicans and Democrats have declared their continued support for Ukraine's efforts to fight Russia, the Congress cannot predict exactly when the funds already approved will be exhausted.

The latest US budget included a $1.2 billion package of military aid to Ukraine, including additional air defence systems and ammunition and artillery shells.

Earlier, the White House stressed that it had a plan to fund the security, economic, humanitarian and energy assistance Ukraine needs for most of 2023, and that it would not be affected by disagreements between political parties.

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