The United States Government announced this Wednesday a new shipment of 250 million dollars in weapons to Ukraine, according to a statement from the State Department.
The package consists of ammunition and other components for air defense systems, ammunition for high mobility artillery systems, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, anti-armor ammunition and more than 15 million rounds.
This is the “final package of the year” 2023, assured the Government of Joe Biden, who weeks ago announced that the money available for Ukraine – some 75 billion dollars – was about to run out. The Government has not detailed how much of that money remains.
President Joe Biden has asked Congress to provide another $61 billion in aid to Ukrainebut Republicans refuse to approve assistance without an agreement with Democrats to strengthen security along the US-Mexico border.
However, the skepticism of a good number of Republicans to allocate more money to Ukraine in the face of a stagnant scenario in the warhas prevented its approval from going ahead for the moment.
Republicans are asking, in exchange for approving this package, for profound changes in the internal immigration policy of the United States.
The White House has warned that without the additional allocationUS aid will run out at the end of the year for Ukraine’s fight to retake territory occupied by Russian forces since it invaded in February 2022.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the latest aid package included air defense ammunition, additional ammunition for high-mobility artillery rocket systems, artillery ammunition, anti-armor ammunition and more than 15 million rounds.
Congress has approved more than $110 billion for Ukraine since the Russian invasionbut has not approved any funds since Republicans wrested control of the House of Representatives from Democrats in January 2023.
This announcement comes weeks after Volodymyr Zelensky’s third visit to the United States, when he hoped to tip the balance in his favor in Congress, which did not happen.
When the Ukrainian leader arrived in Washington last year, he was greeted with applause at a joint session of Congress and a red carpet at the White House.
Shortly after, the United States approved a $50 billion aid package to support Ukraine’s efforts to reclaim its territory at the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022.
This time the reception was very different. He had a closed-door session with U.S. senators and a private meeting with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Zelensky had hoped to persuade Congress to approve a new $60 billion military aid package.s, before the quantity that is currently approved is exhausted.
Without this new aid, Zelensky told lawmakers, Ukraine is at real risk of losing the war it is waging against Russia, a more heavily armed adversary.
As analysts predicted, the chances of Congress passing an aid package for Ukraine before the end of the year became increasingly slim.
*With information from EFE.
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