US warns funds for Ukraine defense run out as White House seeks urgent Congress action
The United States has run out of money to finance military aid to Ukraine, so Congress must urgently approve a new support package, announced White House representative John Kirby at a briefing.
On December 27, Washington provided Kyiv with the last package of military aid, for which funding is provided.
He noted that the administration of US President Joe Biden needs the support of Congress to continue providing aid.
"The things that were signed out on the 27th have not all been delivered to Ukraine; that will come in coming days and weeks. But after that, absent supplemental funding, there’s — there’s no other magical pot to dip into to try to get support for Ukraine," said Kirby.
The White House is "going to do what [it] can" to continue helping Ukraine.
"But in terms of the kinds of security assistance that we’ve been able to provide and the frequency with which we have provided it — every two weeks — that ended on the 27th when we submitted our last one for the year, the last one that we had funding applied to," he concluded.
On December 13, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy returned from the United States, where he tried to persuade Congress to vote for aid to Ukraine, without a positive outcome.
Congress went on winter break without approving additional aid to Ukraine.
Some American congressmen thought it was right to stay in Washington after December 14 and resolve the issue of additional funding and security of the US borders.