Almost $5.8 billion in US aid to Ukraine will expire if Congress does not take action by end of September - AP
At the end of September, almost $6 billion in aid funding to Ukraine will expire if the US Congress does not pass a decision to extend the Pentagon's authority to send weapons to Kyiv from its own stockpiles.
The Associated Press writes about this with reference to unnamed American officials, Censor.NET reports.
The Biden administration has asked Congress to include funding authority in any resolution lawmakers may pass before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 to fund the federal government and prevent a shutdown, it said.
Officials said they hoped to extend the authority for another year, but noted that the Pentagon is considering other options if that effort fails. It is not specified what exactly these options are.
American officials reported that the term of aid for about $5.8 billion under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) mechanism is expiring. According to it, the aid is provided from the fund of the presidential administration and the existing reserves of the US Department of Defense, which allows the American leader to quickly transfer aid from the state reserves to support allies.
Another $100 million under the PDA does not expire at the end of the month, the interlocutors noted.
Also, according to their data, there is still a little more than $4 billion in aid to Ukraine under the USAI program, which will not expire this month either - they will be in effect for another year. These funds are used to pay for contracts for the production of weapons that will be delivered in a year or more.
Earlier, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States, Charles Brown, reported that the Pentagon Comptroller (an official of the Ministry of Defense of the United States) is giving the senior leadership of the defense and the Armed Forces options - and they will consider ways to use the funding under PDA and USAI.
Brown added that this funding could be important for Ukraine as it prepares for winter fighting.
According to him, the US could work with Ukraine on air defense capabilities and the ability to protect the country's critical infrastructure.
Also, the general emphasized, it is important how Ukraine organizes its defense for the winter so that it can slow down the Russian advance in these months.
"The failure of U.S. lawmakers to act on this funding could be another major setback in Ukraine's fight with Russia, just five months after Congress finally broke a long and damaging impasse and passed new funding for Ukraine," the Associated Press added.
