US declares more military assistance for Ukraine in defiance of Congress’s funding blockage

The White House announced on Tuesday that the Pentagon, which is still severely overdrawn and in need of at least $10 billion to replenish all the weapons it has taken out of stock to aid Kyiv in its desperate battle with Russia, will send roughly $300 million worth of weapons to the country as soon as it finds some cost savings in its contracts.

Since acknowledging that it ran out of replenishment funding in December 2023, this is the first time the Pentagon has publicly presented a security package for Ukraine.

Only recently did authorities openly admit that they are $10 billion overdrawn rather than simply running out of money to purchase new weaponry.

The statement is made at a time when Republican resistance has caused attempts to get new funding for arms to stagnate in the House and Ukraine’s supply of ammunition is rapidly running short.

For months, US officials have maintained that unless Congress approved the extra replenishment funds—which are a component of the blocked supplemental funding bill—the nation would not be allowed to begin weaponry supplies.

In order to maintain US military readiness, the Pentagon has been able to use the replenishment funds to remove existing munitions, air defense systems, and other weapons from its reserve inventories under the presidential drawdown authority (PDA), send them to Ukraine, and then enter into contracts to order replacements.

National security advisor Jake Sullivan said, “When Russian troops advance and its guns fire, Ukraine does not have enough ammunition to fire back.” This was in reference to the $300 million in extra help that was announced.

The Pentagon has also been able to finance longer-term contracts with industry to build new weaponry for Ukraine because of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), a separate program.

In a briefing to reporters, top defense officials said that the Pentagon opted to deliver additional weaponry because it was able to save almost $300 million on some of those longer-term contracts.

According to the authorities, the cost reductions essentially balance out the new package and maintain the $10 billion deficit in replenishing expenditure.

According to one of the sources, unless more cost reductions are achieved or Congress approves the supplemental budget measure, which contains around $60 billion in military assistance for Ukraine, the package represents a “one time shot.” According to the official, armored systems, artillery rounds, and anti-aircraft missiles are anticipated to be included.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, press secretary for the Pentagon, said, “This is not a sustainable way to support Ukraine.” He described it as a “one-time good deal” that planners cannot see happening again.

At a crucial juncture in the conflict, Polish authorities were in Washington to put pressure on the US to end their standoff over funding for Ukraine when the assistance announcement was made.

After meeting with Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate earlier in the day, Polish President Andrzej Duda met with President Joe Biden on Tuesday.

The $95 billion plan, which includes funding for Taiwan, Israel, and the Ukraine, has not yet been brought to the floor by House Speaker Mike Johnson.

A long-shot attempt to compel a vote via a discharge petition has been initiated by House Democrats in an attempt to exert pressure on the Republican speaker. To put the assistance proposal to a vote, the seldom successful process would need the backing of 218 parliamentarians, or a majority of the legislature.

The situation in Ukraine has become worse, with front-line soldiers having to ration ammunition while fighting a Russian army that is much better equipped.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine has begged Congress for assistance on many occasions, but the Republican leadership in the House has refused to allow a vote on the aid package, claiming that border security measures must come first.

During budget briefings on Monday, Pentagon representatives said that they were depending on the supplemental budget to close the $10 billion replenishment gap.

Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks said, “We will have to find other means if we don’t get the $10 billion.” “We’re really focused on the need for that supplemental right now.”

The Pentagon has “found” money to utilize for more arms shipments to Ukraine for the second time in less than nine months.

Defense authorities said in June of last year that they had exaggerated by $6.2 billion the total worth of the weaponry the US had sent to Ukraine in the previous two years.

When equipment was taken out of Pentagon stockpiles and sent to Ukraine, officials at the Pentagon at the time indicated that an examination revealed the military services had used replacement prices instead of the equipment’s book value.

The department used the excess that arose from the discovery for presidential drawdown packages until the end of December.

Since the start of the Biden administration, the US has given Ukraine security aid totaling more than $44.9 billion, including more than $44.2 billion since the start of Russia’s invasion on February 24, 2022.

The Precision Strike Missile (PrSM), which the Army is purchasing to replace the long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), is one of the new systems the Pentagon is attempting to replace the older, more expensive systems. These and other factors have contributed to the $10 billion overdrawn in the replenishment account.

Because of the nature of the conventional ground battle in Ukraine, the bulk of those munitions have come from Army stocks.

Operations have suffered throughout the last several months due to the lack of further US assistance supplies, and last month, Ukrainian soldiers left the eastern city of Avdiivka, where outnumbered defenders had resisted a Russian attack for four months.

In recent days, whole Ukrainian regiments have reported to CIA Director William Burns in Congress that they are down to a few dozen artillery rounds and other munitions.

Instead of blaming a lack of Ukrainian will, Burns described the withdrawal from Avdiivka as a failure of ammunition supplies.