One official, who like others spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the Biden administration’s plans, said that once the $95 billion foreign aid bill is finalized, it would take less than a week. for certain weapons to reach the battlefield, depending on where they are stored. The legislation provides about $60 billion for Ukraine, with most of the rest going to Israel and U.S. partners in Asia.
It is unclear exactly how large this package will be, although it is almost certain that it will contain munitions desperately needed by Ukrainian personnel, including 155mm shells used in NATO howitzers and ammunition for medium-range artillery. Since the start of the war, the value of individual American transfers has ranged from hundreds of millions of dollars to more than $2 billion.
As the aid bill languished in Congress for months, officials in Washington and Kiev said Ukraine’s front-line units were rationing a rapidly evaporating stockpile of weapons and that Moscow would soon have an advantage. 10 to 1 in artillery fire.
It is also likely that the Pentagon will provide Ukraine with a new tranche of air defense equipment and munitions, a vital need to combat Russia’s relentless campaign against the country’s civilian infrastructure. NATO Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday he was meeting with allies to discuss ways to boost those capabilities, with a focus on the high-end Patriot system.
A Pentagon spokesman, Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, declined to comment. News of the planned transfer was earlier reported by Politico.
The United States has provided nearly $45 billion in military aid to Ukraine since early 2022, when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Moscow. Its latest aid package, totaling $300 million, was prepared in March after the Pentagon identified “unanticipated cost savings” in recent arms deals – an exception after the Funding approved by Congress dried up last year and an intense political fight followed President Biden’s demand for more.
U.S. support for the war in Ukraine has bitterly divided the Republican Party, with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) delaying consideration of the funding bill while facing fierce opposition from far-right members of his caucus. With the help of Democrats, he passed a procedural measure Friday that sets the stage for this weekend’s vote, even though it could cost him his leadership job.
In Ukraine, officials are growing increasingly frustrated with Washington’s paralysis as the situation on the battlefield worsens due to shortages of ammunition and personnel.
In February, Ukrainian forces withdrew from the eastern town of Avdiivka, ceding significant territory to the Russians for the first time in nearly a year – a decision that Ukrainian officials blamed on resources limited. Across the front line, Ukrainian troops are facing an ammunition shortage so severe that they are rationing their shells, leaving artillery units unable to protect infantry by striking deeper into the territory under Russian control to stop the Russian advance.
Russia has exploited these weaknesses, first at Avdiivka and more recently by pushing toward the town of Chasiv Yar, outside Bakhmut. Aware that Ukraine also lacks air defense, Russia has launched repeated missile and drone strikes on major Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure, destroying energy facilities across the country, straining the power grid and causing panic in residential areas. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly publicly called for air defense that they believe could have prevented these strikes.
Then this week, Russia struck the northern city of Chernihiv and the eastern city of Dnipro and surrounding villages, killing dozens of people and severely damaging infrastructure. Both attacks could have been avoided, Ukrainian officials said, if Ukraine had the air defense equipment it needs.
After the attacks, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba highlighted what they called double standards by the United States and other Western allies who helped Israel intercepting Iranian missiles and drones last week, while failing to adequately help Ukraine. who is under fire from critics every day.
“US support has been in question for too long,” Zelensky said Friday, addressing the Ukraine-NATO Council. “When it comes to defending freedom, everything in question gives a clear answer to Putin. This pushes him to act every time the West slows down.”
O’Grady reported from Kyiv. Dan Lamothe contributed to this report.
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