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vital.The soonest Congress could complete negotiations and pass new Ukraine assistance is mid-December, nearly two months after President Joe Biden first requested $61bn for the country in its war against Russia, Bloomberg reported on November 17.
US Senate to consider Ukraine aid bill after Nov 23. The proposed bill, which would lump aid for Ukraine along with packages for Israel, the Indo-Pacific region, and humanitarian support, had bipartisan support, Schumer claimed.
White House admits lack of funds for further Ukraine aid. The latest security assistance package has exhausted the remaining USAI (Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative) funds currently available for Kyiv, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Friday. "While we do have remaining PDA authorities to continue to fulfill Ukraine's immediate battlefield needs, we are beginning to provide Ukraine with smaller PDA packages in order to stretch out our ability to support Ukraine for as long as possible”, she added. Earlier, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that the US is sending Ukraine another package of military aid worth only $125mn, although Reuters called the cost of the intended package at $425mn before the announcement.
White House: 96% of Ukraine aid already spent. "If we count the total amount of funds that have been provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the war, which is more than $60 billion, not only security assistance, but also economic, financial assistance and humanitarian assistance, we used approximately 96% of what was left,” Kirby said.
The White House is worried about the difficulties in providing aid to Ukraine. The reluctance of the US House of Representatives to approve the request of US President Joe Biden's administration to support Ukraine makes it challenging to help Kyiv, said Jake Sullivan, the US President's national security advisor. According to him, the government is actively working with Republicans and Democrats in both houses of Congress to ensure support for this initiative. Sullivan emphasized that without approving a new large-scale package in Congress, the possibilities for the US to help are decreasing every week. "This is already affecting our ability to give Ukraine everything it needs.” At the same time, Sullivan is convinced that a substantial majority has been preserved in both houses to approve the president’s request. Sullivan emphasized that "the national interests of the US will suffer severe damage if America cannot provide stable funding for Israel and Ukraine.” Last month, Joe Biden asked Congress to approve $61.4B for Ukraine.
Democrats in the US Senate have blocked a Republican bid to aid Israel that did not include aid for Ukraine. On November 7, Democrats blocked the Republican effort to win quick approval for a bill that would provide $14.3B in emergency aid to Israel that passed the House of Representatives last week but offers no assistance for Ukraine in its war against Russia. Democrats objected, stressing the importance of providing aid to both Ukraine and Israel, in addition to humanitarian aid, border security funding, and money to push back against China in the Indo-Pacific that was included in a $106B funding request that President Joe Biden sent to Congress last month. "Our allies in Ukraine can no more afford a delay than our allies in Israel," said Senator Patty Murray, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. Last week, the White House had said Biden would veto the House bill.
70 UKRAINE Country Report December 2023 www.intellinews.com