Ukraine and aid packages from the US and NATO
US House Speaker paves the way for Ukraine aid package .The US House of Representatives may soon send a bill on additional aid to Ukraine to the Senate after weeks of delay.
US House Speaker Mike Johnson on March 14 told Republican senators that the House would soon send a bill on additional aid to Ukraine to the Senate after weeks of delay. However, the aid bill Mr. Johnson mentioned appears to be very different from the $95 billion foreign aid package the Senate passed last month.
Mr. Johnson mentioned the idea of aid in the form of loans or leasing programs to ensure that Americans do not spend tens of billions of dollars without getting anything in return. He also mentioned the idea of allowing frozen Russian assets to be confiscated and the proceeds from liquidated assets to be deposited into a fund to support Ukraine.
However, he did not specify whether the aid package for Ukraine would come with requirements for border security reform. Mr. Johnson paved the way for the Ukraine aid package after he came under pressure from Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell to put the aid bill for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan to a vote in the House of Representatives.
After House Speaker Mike Johnson's speech, Senator John Cornyn said he was quite optimistic that the House would soon send the Ukraine aid bill to the Senate. "We will not leave Ukraine empty-handed," Mr. Cornyn said.
The US has been the country providing the most aid to Ukraine since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out two years ago. This aid source has been stalled since the end of last year when the US Congress disagreed on a number of issues. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives proposed that President Joe Biden's administration first commit to reforming border security to cope with the immigration wave.
Aid to Ukraine causes a $6.5 billion "hole" in the US military
US media said the country's military needs at least 6.5 billion USD to compensate for the weapons reserves it has provided to Ukraine.
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According to a document observed by Bloomberg news agency, the US Department of Defense has asked Congress to allocate at least 6.5 billion USD to replenish stockpiles that have been depleted after 2 years of continuously transferring weapons to the US. Ukraine. The Pentagon emphasized urgency and listed priority spending in supplemental proposals sent to Congress last month, Bloomberg reported.
The procurement list is said to include a variety of weapons, ammunition and key components for the production of 155mm artillery shells, HARM anti-radar missiles, Patriot interceptors, GMLRS missiles and TOW anti-tank missiles. . While the Pentagon estimates an immediate additional budget of $6.5 billion, many US media outlets reported earlier this week that the US would need at least $10 billion.
Unless the shortfall is filled, this "gap" will strain the US military, a source told Politico. Washington provided more than $75 billion in cash and equipment to Ukraine as of the end of last year to counter Russia, far exceeding other Western donors. However, the aid process has stalled in the past few months due to a $60 billion budget stuck in Congress.
Most recently, on March 12, the US announced the first aid package for Ukraine since December last year, also the first package of 2024 with a value of 300 million USD. This is an effort by the Pentagon after they discovered some cost savings in military contracts, leading to more money to urgently transfer weapons to Ukraine.
This is just a small aid package, helping Ukraine relieve its "thirst" for ammunition in a short time. In the long term, in the war of attrition with Russia, Ukraine still faces a great disadvantage because Moscow is putting the military production machine into "spin". NATO intelligence estimates that Russia plans to produce 3 million artillery shells this year, while both the US and EU set a goal of producing 1 million artillery shells to aid Ukraine.
Experts predict that ammunition potential will be an important variable that has a strong impact on the outcome of the war, which has entered its third year. Whichever side is able to maintain firepower longer will gain a great advantage. on the front. In the latest developments, US House Speaker Mike Johnson told Republican senators on March 14 that the House will soon send a bill on additional aid to Ukraine to the Senate after weeks of delay.
Mr. Johnson mentioned the idea of aid in the form of loans or leasing programs to ensure that Americans do not spend tens of billions of dollars without getting anything in return. He also mentioned the idea of allowing frozen Russian assets to be confiscated and the proceeds from liquidated assets to be deposited in a fund to support Ukraine.
