“We don’t have any money anymore”
White House warns: Without an agreement in Congress, aid to Ukraine could be withdrawn by the end of the year
US President Joe Biden speaks in the Oval Office of the White House about the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine
© Jonathan Ernst / Pool Reuters / AP / DPA
Ukraine is already under heavy pressure in the war. Now there is bad news from overseas: According to the US government, military aid could only last until the end of the year.
The White House has warned that US military aid to Ukraine will expire by the end of the year if there is still no agreement on this support in Congress in Washington. In a letter released Monday to House Republican leader Mike Johnson, White House Budget Office Director Shalanda Young wrote that without this support, Ukraine would be “crippled on the battlefield.”
The dispute in the US Congress over new funding for aid to Ukraine has been dragging on for months. Among the opposition Republicans, who are in the majority in the House of Representatives, there is some resistance to new aid for the country fighting the Russian invasion.
Call to Action for Congress: Ukrainian Defeat Is Imminent
If the US Parliament does not act, the government will no longer have any funds from the New Year to procure additional weapons and equipment for Ukraine or to purchase equipment from its own military stocks Kyiv to deliver. This is what the director of the US National Budget Office, Shalanda Young, wrote in a letter to the leadership in both chambers of Congress. The White House released the letter on Monday. Young urged Congress to act: “We’re out of money – and almost no time left.”
There is “no magic pot” from which funds can be drawn, Young warned. If the flow of weapons and equipment from the USA is interrupted, it will bring Ukraine “to its knees on the battlefield.” This not only endangers Kiev’s successes, but also increases the likelihood of Russian victories. “If our assistance is stopped, it will cause significant problems for Ukraine.” Even if the international partners had increased their support, they could not compensate for the aid from the USA.
Young listed what had already been used of the funds approved so far. The Pentagon has already used up 97 percent of its approved funds for Ukraine. The money earmarked for the country’s economic aid has already been fully drawn down. “If Ukraine’s economy collapses, they will no longer be able to continue fighting,” she warned.
The USA is Ukraine’s main military supporter and has already provided billions of dollars. The loss of this aid would be fatal, especially since Europe is not meeting its self-imposed delivery obligations for ammunition to Ukraine, as Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius recently had to admit.
Ukraine expects new massive missile strikes on power grid
Meanwhile, after a long break, Kiev is expecting new massive Russian missile strikes against the Ukrainian energy supply. “If they haven’t started these strikes yet, then they can start any day,” Air Force spokesman Yuri Ihnat said in an interview published on Monday by the RBK-Ukraina news agency. The Russian defense industry has ramped up production of missiles and combat drones.
According to Ihnat, Moscow currently has around 870 rockets of various types at its disposal. However, the Russian military no longer has the resources it did last year. In September of the previous year there were still 1,600 cruise missiles.
According to its own statements, Ukraine was attacked by 23 Russian combat drones and one missile on Monday night. The Ukrainian Air Force said 18 of the drones that the Russians launched from the annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea were successfully repelled. The rocket was also shot down. Initially nothing was known about possible victims or damage. Overall, the air defense was active in nine different regions of the country during the night.