Ekaterina Girnyk23:58, 16.12.23

The Pentagon decided that it had inflated the cost of weapons it had already sent to Ukraine by $6.2 billion. This has created a reserve of $4.4 billion from which aid packages are being sent.

In a letter to Congress in early December, White House Budget Director Shalanda Young categorically stated that money for aid to Ukraine had run out. But the US has since announced three more aid packages totaling $475 million. This is due to the complex programs through which aid is sent to Ukraine, explains“Voice of America”with reference to AP.

There are two sources of money for weapons and security assistance created specifically to help Ukraine. One of them is the PDA presidential authority, which requires the US to provide weapons it already has. The other is the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which funds long-term arms contracts.

The USAI money is all spent, and the PDA money is also gone. But then the Pentagon decided that it had inflated the cost of the weapons it had already sent to Ukraine by $6.2 billion. This created a reserve of $4.4 billion that is slowly dwindling.

Thus, it was PDA packages that continued to be announced every few weeks. But given the dwindling money, the latest packages have been smaller – around $200 million or less – compared to previous ones, which were often $400-500 million.

In theory, the Pentagon would have enough equipment to offer these smaller packages within a few months. At the same time, there may not be enough stock on the Pentagon’s shelves, so some weapons may be in short supply.

Congressional funding for weapons to replace those the U.S. is sending Ukraine has now dropped to about $1 billion. The dwindling amount of money means the military services are worried they won’t be able to buy all the weapons they need to defend themselves, and the U.S. will have to make a choice between helping Ukraine and national security.

Help from the US to Ukraine

In the second half of October, US President Joe Biden submitted to the US Congress a request for additional funding in the amount of $106 billion, $61 billion of which is provided to support Ukraine. However, the Republicans blocked his progress for several weeks in every possible way, effectively taking the issue of assistance to Ukraine hostage.

The Hill, citing senators, writes that Congress is likely to postpone the issue of aid to Ukraine and strengthening the security of the US southern border until next year, since he will not have time to pass the bill before Christmas (December 25).

The other day, Pentagon Secretary Pat Ryder said that the United States will have to choose between its own combat readiness and arms supplies to Ukraine due to the exhaustion of funds to support Kyiv . According to him, the Pentagon has about $4.4 billion of its own funds remaining. The fund for assistance to Ukraine under presidential powers is about $1 billion. 

(c) UNIAN 2023