Biden Admin Announces New $250 Million Weapons Package for Ukraine Amid Congressional Deadlock

Ukrainian military forces move U.S.-made military equipment, and other military assistance shipped from Lithuania, to Boryspil Airport in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Feb. 13, 2022. Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

The Biden administration on Dec. 27 announced a new $250 million weapons package for Ukraine that might be the last tranche of military aid to the embattled country unless Congress approves supplemental funding legislation that remains stalled in Washington.

“Our assistance has been critical to supporting our Ukrainian partners as they defend their country and their freedom against Russia’s aggression,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, as Ukraine battles Russia in a war that will soon hit the two-year mark.

In February 2022, Russian forces launched what Washington and its allies call an “unprovoked” invasion, but that Moscow says was a response to NATO expansion and Kyiv’s refusal not to join the Western military bloc.

The new package—the Biden administration’s 54th tranche of equipment to Kyiv so far—mostly consists of what Ukrainian forces have been running low on—ammunition.

What’s in The Package?

The items in what the Pentagon calls a “much-needed” package include air defense munitions, 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds, and more than 15 million rounds of small-arms ammunition.

Also included are various air defense system components, anti-armor systems, demolition munitions for obstacle clearing, and an array of spare parts, maintenance, and medical equipment.

“Security assistance for Ukraine is a smart investment in our national security,” the Department of Defense (DOD) said in a statement. “It deters potential aggression elsewhere in the world while strengthening our defense industrial base and creating highly skilled jobs for the American people.”

The Pentagon released a fact sheet on Dec. 27 showing a fairly detailed breakdown of U.S. security assistance to Ukraine, totaling about $44.9 billion since President Joe Biden took office.

Military aid to date includes more than 400 million rounds of small-arms ammunition, more than 10,000 Javelin anti-armor systems, 20 Mi-17 helicopters, 31 Abrams tanks, and one Patriot air defense battery and related munitions.

However, U.S. military support for Ukraine has been waning on Capitol Hill as Kyiv’s much-touted counteroffensive has failed to break through deeply entrenched Russian positions.

Future Aid in Question

There has been growing Republican skepticism about the magnitude of U.S. assistance to Ukraine, as GOP lawmakers who back more funding to Kyiv insist on changes to U.S.–Mexico border policy to stem the flow of illegal immigration as a condition of more assistance.

Meanwhile, the money from existing commitments is running dry. In a letter to House and Senate leaders and released publicly at the beginning of December, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young warned the United States would run out of funding to send weapons and assistance to Kyiv by the end of the year.

“We are out of money—and nearly out of time,” she wrote.

During a Pentagon briefing last week, spokesman Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder delivered a similar message of empty coffers.

“Once those funds are obligated, we will have exhausted the funding available for us to provide security assistance to Ukraine,” he said. “We would, again, continue to urge the passage of the supplemental that we’ve submitted. ... It is imperative that we have the funds needed to ensure that they get the most urgent battlefield capabilities that they require.”

President Biden has urged Congress to approve a roughly $110 billion supplemental funding package for Ukraine, Israel, and other national security needs. The measure remains stalled on Capitol Hill and includes around $61 billion for Ukraine, with roughly half of that to replenish Pentagon stockpiles.

Ukrainian soldiers preparing a U.S.-made MK-19 automatic grenade launcher near Toretsk, Ukraine, on Oct. 12, 2022. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images

“Without supplemental funding, we’re rapidly coming to an end of our ability to help Ukraine respond to the urgent operational demands that it has,” President Biden said at a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in mid-December in Washington. “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin is banking on the United States failing to deliver for Ukraine. We must, we must, we must prove him wrong.”

Mr. Zelenskyy said during his surprise visit to Washington earlier this month that he was confident of more U.S. support for his war-ravaged country.

“Together, Ukraine and America can strengthen democracy’s arsenal,” Mr. Zelenskyy said. “And this is vital for other free nations and the U.S., as it involves your companies, technologies, and technology advancement and job creation.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Joe Biden hold a news conference in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, on Dec. 12, 2023. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

‘As Long As We Can’

Yet even as President Biden pledged more aid during his Ukrainian counterpart’s visit to Washington, his rhetoric has shifted from promising that the United States would back Ukraine for “as long as it takes” to a more modest “as long as we can.”

Mr. Zelenskyy told reporters at the joint presser alongside President Biden that the signals he’s received about further U.S. support were “more than positive” but that he’s counting on “particular results.”

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who met with Mr. Zelenskyy during his visit to Washington, told reporters that any supplemental spending package that includes new aid to Ukraine would be conditional on the Biden administration bolstering U.S. border security.

“Our first condition on any national security supplemental spending package is about our own national security first,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill in mid-December.

“The border is an absolute catastrophe. And this is because of the policies of this White House and this administration.”