Biden govt bypasses Congress to approve weapons for Ukraine

WASHINGTON: The United States will send a new military aid package for Ukraine worth $300 million, President Joe Biden’s administration said on Tuesday, the first such move in months as additional funds for Kyiv remain blocked by Republican leaders in Congress.

The White House has been scrambling to find ways to send more military assistance given the situation on the battlefield and resistance to the funding from Republican hardliners.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the funding was coming from unanticipated cost savings from Pentagon contracts and would be used for artillery rounds and munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems.

“This ammunition will keep Ukraine’s guns firing for a period, but only a short period,” Sullivan told reporters.

“It is nowhere near enough to meet Ukraine’s battlefield needs and it will not prevent Ukraine from running out of ammunition,” Sullivan said. The last drawdown was in December when funds to replenish stocks fell to zero.

Officials in Washington have also looked at options for seizing $285 billion in Russian assets immobilised in 2022 and using the money to pay for Ukraine weaponry.

Using the funds that have been returned to replenish stocks opens a narrow window to urgently allow more aid to be sent from existing stocks as the Biden administration waits for supplemental funding to be passed by lawmakers.

Biden, a Democrat, has backed military aid to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022, while his likely Republican opponent in the Nov 5 US election, former president Donald Trump, has a more isolationist stance.