News Feed

AP: Pentagon running out of money for Ukraine

2 min read
AP: Pentagon running out of money for Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska with Gen. Mark Milley and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at the National Pentagon 9/11 Memorial in Arlington, Virginia on Sept. 21, 2023. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Pentagon Comptroller Michael McCord warned the U.S. Congress that diminishing funds for Ukraine could cause delays in critical weapons and supply shipments, the Associated Press reported on Oct. 2.

McCord said the U.S. has around $5.4 billion remaining to send weapons to Ukraine, and that long-term funding through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative is completely exhausted.

He also said that the U.S. is running out of funds to replenish its own military stockpiles after transferring weapons to Ukraine.

“We have already been forced to slow down the replenishment of our own forces to hedge against an uncertain funding future,” McCord said in a letter to Congressional leaders obtained by the Associated Press.

“Failure to replenish our military services on a timely basis could harm our military’s readiness.”

On Sept. 30, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to avert an impending government shutdown that did not include funding for Ukrainian aid. While President Joe Biden has said he believes lawmakers will eventually "secure passage of the support needed to help Ukraine," the future of U.S. aid to Kyiv remains uncertain.

McCord said that gaps in funding will force the U.S. to delay sending defense supplies that are “critical and urgent now as Russia prepares to conduct a winter offensive.”

On Oct. 2, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the U.S. only has enough money to support Ukraine "in the immediate term."

Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Associated Press that funding delays would have an immediate impact on the Ukrainian military.

“If there’s no new money, they’re going to start feeling it by Thanksgiving,” he said.

With winter approaching, is Ukraine’s energy system ready for renewed Russian attacks?
The specter of Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy system looms once again as winter rapidly approaches. Last year in early October, just as Ukraine’s heating season began, Russia launched a month-long series of missile and drone attacks against Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, leading to blackouts…
Article image



This includes more than $43.9 billion since Russia’s launched its full-scale invasion against Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

Avatar
Abbey Fenbert

Senior News Editor

Abbey Fenbert is a senior news editor at the Kyiv Independent. She is a freelance writer, editor, and playwright with an MFA from Boston University. Abbey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine from 2008-2011.

Read more
News Feed

The World Bank will provide $200 million over the next five years to prepare Ukrainian projects for large-scale reconstruction, the Economy Ministry announced on July 11. The funding will be available under the five-year PREPARE program with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA).

Video

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, war has become a daily reality for thousands of Ukrainian children. Some Ukrainian military units, such as the Azov Brigade, offer boot camps for teenagers to teach them the basics of self-defense, first aid, dry firing, and other survival skills — helping them prepare for both the realities of today and the uncertainties of the future.

Show More