Pentagon may not use all funds for Ukraine weapons
Pentagon may not use all funds for Ukraine weapons
The Pentagon is expected to be not all billions of dollars that the congress for the armament of Ukraine before President Joe Biden leaves his office. Two US officials and three defense officers share this assessment.
remaining means and challenges
The government has less than two months to use almost $ 7 billion that are part of a larger package that was approved by Congress at the beginning of the year to help Ukraine in the war against Russia. This financing enables the Ministry of Defense to send weapons from its own stocks, but current bottlenecks limit the amount that the United States has been able to send to Kiev in the last few months.
bottlenecks in armaments production
For months, the US government has reached the limits of its ability to fill up its own weapons, which restricts support for Ukraine by bidding administration. The United States has continuously increased its production capacities for critical ammunition, such as 155 mm artillery bullets, the increase in production has not yet been completed.
urgency of military support
The Pentagon had promised to use the remaining means completely because the situation has become more urgent, especially in view of the violent attacks on Russia on Ukraine, including the first use of a medium -range rocket with several explosive heads.
Last week the deputy spokeswoman of Pentagon, Sabrina Singh, said that the government is "committed to using the complete authority that was assigned to us by Congress". Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the congress this month that the government continued to work to assign the remaining funds. With only 55 days until the takeover of President-Elect Donald Trump remain 6.8 billion dollar in order to after weapons directly from the US stands Ukraine to ship.
changes under a new administration
It is unlikely that Trump maintains the same level of support for Kyiv. According to reports, his designated security advisor Mike Waltz checks several suggestions for the end of a war, which the President's election described in the election campaign than in one day.
increase in military aid packages
In the remaining time, according to a defense officer, it is likely that the size of the individual military aid packages will increase, but it was recognized that the use of the remaining means will be a "challenge" in such a short time.
Need for soldiers
A high-ranking civil servant of the bid administration said on Wednesday that Ukraine should reduce the recruitment age for its armed forces from the current 25 to 18 years, since the need is considered "critical". He argued that the most urgent need did not exist in weapons, but to fresh staff to use the training resources and replace the losses suffered.
monthly military aid of $ 1 billion
The United States has recently approved military aid packages of around $ 750 million per month, and the Ministry of Defense has increased the size of the aid packages this autumn at the request of bidges and security advisor Jake Sullivan. A second US official announced that the government is now working on increasing this amount to around $ 1 billion a month in the remaining time, which would still leave billions unused.
outlook on upcoming military aid
However, it is expected that large amounts of weapons and equipment, including hundreds of air defense missiles, will arrive in Ukraine before the start of the Trump administration on January 20. After that, the new administration will be responsible for deciding whether to continue to deliver weapons to Kiev or whether the remaining funds are used for new military aid packages.summary of military support
In September, bidders of dollars of military support for Ukraine agreed while President Wolodymyr Selenskyj visited the White House. However, the United States could not send complete help at once, but divided them into smaller packages that are announced about every two weeks.
"As part of the increase in security support, which President Biden announced on September 26, the ministry remains obliged to provide Ukraine the necessary skills to combat Russian aggression until the end of the administration," a defense officer told CNN.
The bid administration has continued to announce military aid packages every 14 days, but the USA remains far behind what would be necessary to use the remaining money at the speed. In the past two months there have been announcements about aid of $ 1.9 billion in five different aid packages, a number that would have to be tripled to use what is still available. The last package announced on November 20 had a value of $ 275 million and contained urgently needed artillery and drones.
biden led a coordinated effort to convince some skeptical republicans in the congress, including the spokesman for the representative of the representative of Mike Johnson, to say goodbye to an extraordinary financing program in April, which included $ 61 billion in help for Ukraine. "America will make it safer. It will make the world safer. And it will continue in the world in America," said Biden on April 24 when signing the law. On the same day, the United States announced a military aid package of over $ 1 billion for Ukraine.
but the value of the auxiliary package fell quickly Equipment that the Pentagon was able to send to Kiev.
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