U.S. President Joe Biden is quietly asking the U.S. Congress to greenlight an additional $24 billion in assistance to Ukraine and to replenish provided weapons before he leaves office, Politico Pro reported on Nov. 26, citing an obtained document.
The news comes amid the Biden administration's efforts to ship in as much aid to Ukraine as possible before Donald Trump, who has criticized military support for Kyiv, takes office in January.
Roughly $16 billion of the sum would be used to restock U.S. arsenals, while the remaining $8 billion would go to the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), the outlet wrote. The USAI is a Pentagon-led program for supplying arms to Ukraine through contracts with U.S. defense companies.
Two congressional sources confirmed the information for Politico and said that Congress received the request on Nov. 25.
The White House suggested that Congress could include the assistance in its effort to avert a government shut down next month, according to the document obtained by Politico.
The report aligns with earlier statements from Biden's team that the White House would seek Congress' approval for additional aid for Ukraine in 2025.
Olena Goncharova
In recent days, the Biden administration has made a series of decisions aimed at giving Kyiv leverage in future negotiations. These steps included approving the delivery of anti-personnel mines and granting permission for Ukraine to launch U.S.-made long-range ATACMS at targets within Russia.
The request for additional funding has already received pushback from critics of Washington's pro-Ukraine policy.
Republican Senator and Trump's ally Mike Lee said that "Congress must not give him (Biden) a free gift to further sabotage President Trump’s peace negotiations on the way out the door."
Trump said he would seek to get the U.S. "out" of the war and bring Russia and Ukraine to the negotiating table. While the details of his plan remain unclear, some reports indicate it might entail Ukraine ceding territory and at least temporarily foregoing its NATO aspirations.
It remains unclear whether the funding request will be successful, as Congress – namely the Republican-led House of Representatives – stalled an earlier $61 billion assistance bill for months before finally approving it in April.
The November elections reinforced Republican control over the legislature, as the party also secured the majority in the Senate. The new Congress will be sworn in in early January.
Dominic Culverwell
