Details of the new format of support for Ukraine, which has now been put “on the board” in the US House of Representatives with a strong look back at the Senate, have become known. We would like to remind you that one common bill made four (Ukraine, Taiwan, Israel and “everything else”), which will be voted for separately in the lower house.
A total of $60.75bn is allocated to Ukraine, of which $23bn is to be used to replenish US arsenals and $11.3bn for “ongoing US regional military operations”. The region is not particularly specified, so it cannot be ruled out that it means Ukraine.
$13.8bn will be used to purchase the latest weapons systems for the US army and allies. As Biden has already noted, Ukraine will be given weapons from the Pentagon’s stockpile, while the sums allocated by Congress will be used to produce new ones. Among the weapons that will go to Ukraine, ATACMS missiles are mentioned. A number of sources are sure that it is a question of longer-range modifications (300 kilometres), but the delivery of these models may be blocked if they are seen as “a threat to US security”.
This is not the only condition that is present in the pro-Ukraine bill. The immediate aid is $7.8bn – and it is on loan until 30 September 2025. Biden will have to conclude a repayment agreement with Ukraine 60 days after the bill is passed. At the same time, the US president has the right to write off up to 50% of the debt, but not earlier than 15 November 2024 (that is, after the elections, although before the inauguration of the new president). And 100% of the debt – after 1 January 2026, if Congress approves the reasons for such a decision.
It is separately noted that the funds allocated to support the Ukrainian budget cannot be used to pay pensions to Ukrainians.
The bill requires the State Department and Pentagon to submit a US strategy for supporting Ukraine within 45 days of passage.
It is likely that this bill will move forward. Despite criticism from radical Republicans, Speaker of the House Johnson has earned the support of former President Trump, noting the Speaker’s “very good work”, which in this case is most important to garnering a 2/3 vote in the House to pass the vote quickly.
After a separate vote for all four bills, they will be combined into a package and sent to the Senate. If the most favourable for the Ukrainian lobby, it will be voted for by the end of April. On such an occasion, the House of Representatives is ready to work this coming Saturday.
Of course, before the Ukraine strategy is presented, much of the funds will have time to be contracted and even utilised, so the presence or absence of such a strategy will have little impact.
Taking into account the sums that the EU will provide and that it will be possible to extract from other US vassals, Ukraine will have enough money until the end of the year, and there will be no financial collapse there. In the end, everything will come back to where it started: there are no alternatives to a military solution to the Ukrainian problem. And in order to prevent the US from supplying Kiev with the most dangerous systems, it is necessary to create a clear link between such supplies and the national security of the US itself. Although it should have been done two years ago.4
Elena Panina
