The Pentagon is considering whether to tap the last remaining source of military aid funding to support Ukraine’s war effort against Russia, even without guarantees that those funds will be topped up by Congress, several defense officials told CNN.
The US Department of Defense still has about $4 billion (7.32 billion leva) of presidential funds for Ukraine, allowing the Pentagon to use its own stockpile to send military equipment to Kiev.
Before that, however, the Pentagon was unwilling to spend any part of these remaining funds without guarantees that they would be reimbursed by Congress through the administration’s request for additional funding in the amount of $60 billion (BGN 109.84 billion), as the withdrawal from the stockpiles of the Department of Defense without a replenishment plan could affect U.S. military readiness.
But with Ukraine increasingly desperate for U.S. military aid and Republican leadership in the House of Representatives refusing to hold a vote on more funds, senior defense officials are debating whether there is any domestic financial foothold that would allow department to spend at least some of the remaining $4 billion to help Ukraine fight Russia.
No decisions have been made yet, officials stress. But talks of that option and other potential Plan Bs have become increasingly urgent in the past few weeks as the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine has grown more dire, officials said.
Officials have said the department could continue to spend some of that $4 billion even without finding domestic funds to be used to replenish it. But it would not be unprecedented for the Pentagon to find additional, unexpected sources of funding.
Last year, the Department of Defense announced that it had discovered an accounting error that led to an overestimation of the amount of aid the Department of Defense provides to Ukraine by $6.2 billion. Those additional funds provided the department with reserves that allowed it to withdraw military aid to Ukraine for longer than expected, CNN previously reported.
Asked Tuesday if the department was considering spending some of the remaining money, Pentagon Press Secretary Gen. Patrick Ryder said he had nothing to report, but that the Pentagon was continuing to explore ways to continue supporting Ukraine.
“We will continue to look for ways in which we can support Ukraine in its struggle for freedom and to preserve its sovereignty,” commented Ryder.
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2024-02-28 20:33:00
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