WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden’s administration is engaged in urgent discussions with Congress to allow it to use up to US$6 billion (S$7.8 billion) in military aid for Ukraine before a Sept 30 deadline, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
The effort comes at a high-risk moment for Ukrainian forces, who are advancing into Russia’s Kursk region while trying to hold off Russian forces threatening the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk.
The Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), a key component of a US$61 billion aid package for Ukraine passed in April, allows the president to transfer defence articles and services from US stocks in response to emergencies.
PDA has been the primary mechanism the Biden administration has used to ship weapons to Ukraine.
Most recently, the administration announced on Aug 23 a new military aid package worth US$125 million, including air-defence missiles, counter-drone equipment, anti-armour missiles and ammunition.
However, most of the US$7.8 billion in PDA in the Bill that Mr Biden signed into law in April has not been used, leaving officials scrambling to find a way to keep the remaining US$6 billion from expiring as the Sept 30 deadline – the end of the 2024 fiscal year – approaches.
Sources close to the negotiations told Reuters that the State Department hopes to attach an extension of the PDA authorities to a Continuing Resolution, a short-term emergency spending Bill that the Senate and House of Representatives must pass in September to avoid a Sept 30 government shutdown.
Congressional aides, who requested anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations, insisted there would be a solution, given strong bipartisan support for assisting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s government.
Mr Zelensky is travelling to the US in September and hopes to present a “victory plan” to Mr Biden. He is expected to take part on Sept 6 in a meeting of the Ramstein group of nations, including the US, which supplies arms to Ukraine.
US companies benefit
Congressional aides said it was not fully clear why the flow of weapons to Ukraine had slowed this year, but said it was partly due to US Department of Defence concern that its own stocks were being depleted, as the weapons industry struggles with supply chain issues.
Lawmakers who back Ukraine, from both parties, stressed the importance of continuing the support.
“Bipartisan support for Ukraine is critical to American interests, and we will do whatever we can in 2024 to build on these successes and secure additional future military aid necessary to maintain the momentum,” Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal and Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, said in a statement in August, after their sixth visit to Ukraine.
Biden administration races to save billions in Ukraine aid as deadline looms
