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Congress plans to vote on providing further aid to Ukraine in December.Republican Congressman Don Bacon said that the US Congress should vote on giving aid to Ukraine in December. Bacon said he supports Republicans' desire to consider aid to Ukraine separately but to consider it in tandem with a change in US law to strengthen checks on migrants at the border. "So, it's more about working out the details of securing the border. And as soon as we agree on these issues, we can vote on aid to Ukraine," he said. Bacon emphasized that under such conditions, aid to Ukraine would be approved no earlier than January - after Congress finances the government and avoids a potential shutdown. "I support the strengthening of security on our border and aid to Ukraine. I understand our speaker; he wants to agree to both, but he believes that if we vote for aid to Ukraine now, the issue of border security may remain unresolved," he added.
The US provides $425M in military aid, but further packages will be reduced due to a lack of funds. The new package includes about $300M worth of laser-guided munitions to destroy Russian drones. They will be transferred through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which provides for the purchase of weapons from manufacturers. The remaining $125M worth of weapons includes additional munitions for NASAMS and HIMARS, 105mm and 155mm munitions, a TOW anti-tank system, Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems, Claymore antipersonnel mines, small arms, and a dozen trucks. This part of the package is under the PDA mechanism, allowing the transfer of weapons from the stockpiles of the US military. At the same time, the spokeswoman of the White House, Karin Jean-Pierre, said that the US will now provide smaller aid packages due to Congress's lack of a decision on additional funding. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on Congress to continue military aid to Ukraine.
• EU Aid
Next year, the EU will allocate €7B in advance to Ukraine under the Ukraine Facility program, said Deputy Minister of Economy Oleksiy Sobolev. He noted that this will happen after the EU approves the €50B Ukraine Facility program for Ukraine for 2024-2027 in mid-December or in January.
European Commission President announces the tenth disbursement of €1.5bn in assistance for Ukraine on November 22. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced the provision of the next disbursement of €1.5bn in assistance for Ukraine to maintain the economic stability of the country.
What will happen if the EU refuses to increase 2024 support to Ukraine to €18bn under the Ukraine Facility program?
According to the Ukraine Facility plan, direct budget assistance from the total €50bn over four years amounts to €39bn. If that amount is divided into equal parts, you get €9.75bn annually, UBN reports.
This will not be enough for next year’s needs, so the government and the Ministry of Finance are negotiating to supply Ukraine with €16-18bn from this €39bn next year.
71 UKRAINE Country Report December 2023 www.intellinews.com