US aid to Ukraine delayed for a month or longer – Bloomberg

New US aid to Ukraine risks being postponed until mid-December, and possibly longer. This calls into question Washington's ability to maintain the flow of weapons, which the Biden administration and the Ukrainian government believe is vital.

This was reported by Bloomberg.

Ukraine's supporters in Congress are fighting hard for a major aid package, whose fate is now surrounded by partisan bickering over border policy and detached from must-pass bills that require quick action.

Congress will not be able to finalize negotiations and approve new aid to Ukraine until mid-December at the earliest, almost two months after President Joe Biden first requested $61 billion for the country in its war against Russia. According to a Defense Ministry official, the US has begun to limit the flow of military aid.

Senators from both parties plan to work in the coming days on an agreement on an aid package combined with border policy, which they can vote on when they return to Washington from Thanksgiving later this month.

“We need to push ourselves to negotiate over the next week,” Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat with close ties to Biden, said. “The Ukrainians are running out of fuel, weapons and ammunition. Congress must act “on a timeline that’s going to matter,” he added.

Republican infighting and tough demands threaten to keep Congress from considering aid in the new year, despite warnings from White House National Security Adviser John Kirby that the US is "nearing the end of the road" on resources available to Ukraine.

"It’s an active battlefront and our ability to continue to support Ukraine is increasingly at jeopardy," Kirby said.

Author – Anastasiya Glotova, 17/11/2023