Ukraine working on extending Lend-Lease law in US – ambassador

The Ukrainian authorities are working to ensure that the United States of America extends the Lend-Lease law to Ukraine after September, although no weapons have been delivered under this program.

Source: Oksana Markarova, the ambassador of Ukraine to the USA, on Radio Svoboda

 Quote: "At the end of September, the draft law on lend-lease expires, on which we are currently working very actively – it has already been passed in the House [of Representatives], and now we are working with the Senate – to extend the validity of this law. 

We hope we will be able to convince our colleagues to allocate grant funds to us in the additional budget. But if there are any delays or certain difficulties with this, then the availability of the option of leasing or renting weapons is very important – it is important that it also remains possible." 

Details: Markarova also added that "integrated work is underway" with American partners in all directions. 

In particular, work is underway with the Congress to ensure that the US state budget for 2024 includes more funds for Ukraine. 

Quote: "In addition to getting new weapons, speeding up deliveries of those already announced, we also have to understand that we are approaching the end of the fiscal year. 30 September is the day that the fiscal year ends in the United States. And all those funds that were budget, security, humanitarian, energy, and reconstruction allocated by Congress in December of last year – we will have them used up by the end of September.

Therefore, we are already working very actively with the Congress on the future budget, on the increase and additional budget funds for Ukraine for 2024, which is actually a calendar year from 1 October."

From UP: Lend-Lease is a US government program for the supply of weapons and strategic materials to allies, which operated during World War II and has been operating for Ukraine for more than a year now. 

On 28 April 2022, the House of Representatives of the US Congress voted to provide a lend-lease agreement for Ukraine. On 9 May, the "Lend-Lease Act for the Protection of Democracy in Ukraine" was signed by US President Joe Biden. It entered into force on 1 October. This program is valid until September 30, 2023 (with the right to extend it). 

Lend-Lease gives the President of the United States the opportunity, without votes for each aid package in Congress, to make decisions about the supply of weapons to Ukraine and the countries of Eastern Europe that were affected by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, the provided weapons will have to be returned or paid for after the war is over. 

The US Lend-Lease weapons have not yet arrived in Ukraine; the Biden administration is helping Kyiv at the expense of other programs and separate packages of free aid.

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