US State Department on the future of aid to Ukraine: there is no magic alternative source of funding
Kyiv • UNN
The US administration supports Ukraine, but demands that Congress act on further assistance, as the available funding is almost exhausted. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller emphasizes the urgency of Congressional action, especially given the upcoming difficult winter and the lack of alternative sources of funding.
The US presidential administration fully supports Ukraine, but the decision on the future of aid to Kyiv depends on Congress. This was stated at a briefing by US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, responding to a request from journalists to comment on the words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy regarding confidence in American support, UNN reports citing Voice of America.
Miller noted that he "can only speak about the administration" of the US president, which is "fully prepared to support additional funding for Ukraine." "We have one package left within the presidential authority that we can provide to Ukraine this year, and then we will exhaust our ability to provide additional security assistance."
The State Department spokesman emphasized that the question of the future of aid for Kyiv should be addressed to the US Congress. "Congress is going to have to decide whether they are going to stand by Ukraine and provide the funding necessary to withstand the Russian invasion as we enter what we expect to be a very difficult winter, or whether they are not going to do so."
Miller added that the U.S. State Department continues to believe that the bill providing funding for Ukraine will be passed by an overwhelming majority in Congress:
And we will continue to work with the Congress to try to make that happen... We have made it clear that we want the additional funding for Ukraine proposed in the President's request to be enacted by the end of this year, and that remains our goal and our priority.
Asked by journalists whether the US administration is considering alternative ways if funding for Ukraine dries up, Miller said that "there is no magic source of funding that we can get if Congress does not pass this bill. That's not how government funding works."
"There are funding sources that we can use. We've used those sources of funding, we've almost exhausted them, and we're going to completely exhaust them in the next few weeks, so we need Congress to act," Miller emphasized.
During his final press conference on Tuesday, December 19, Zelenskyy said he was confident in the US support:
As for financial assistance, we are working very hard. I am confident that the United States will not betray us and that what we have agreed on will be fully implemented by the United States... We are expecting this assistance, they know the details, what it is needed for, how it will affect us, they know how the postponement of certain dates affects us. I think I found an understanding with President Biden and the senators, we met with both parties
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As noted by the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Ukrainian and Russian forces have used up a significant portion of their Soviet-era 122mm and 152mm artillery ammunition, and the lack of these rounds is forcing both countries to look for additional sources of supply abroad.
Analysts note that Russia has recently received a large shipment of such ammunition from North Korea, as previously reported by Bloomberg, citing information that a South Korean lawmaker received from the country's intelligence services. Instead, according to analysts at the Institute for the Study of War, Ukraine has so far received the relevant shells in Western military aid packages. However, delays in Western aid "introduce uncertainty into Ukrainian operational plans."
