US rushing assistance to Ukraine, with aid uncertain under Trump
PHOTO CAPTION: A Ukrainian serviceman from an anti-drone mobile air defense unit fires a machine gun towards a Russian kamikaze drone, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kherson region, Ukraine April 19, 2024. REUTERS/Ivan Antypenko
By Patricia Zengerle and Mike Stone
(Reuters) - The White House plans to rush billions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine before President Joe Biden leaves office in January, sources said on Wednesday, hoping to shore up the government in Kyiv before President-elect Donald Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.
"The administration plans to push forward ... to put Ukraine in the strongest position possible" a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity, before its term ends in January.
Trump has been critical of Biden's assistance for Ukraine, fueling concern about the future of support for President Volodomyr Zelenskiy's government under a Republican-controlled White House, Senate and possibly the House of Representatives.
The House has been narrowly controlled by Republicans since January 2023, and it was not clear by Wednesday afternoon whether the party had won enough seats in Tuesday's elections to keep Democrats from winning a slim majority.
The Republican-controlled House last approved aid for Ukraine, including the authority for Biden to transfer billions of dollars in weapons from U.S. stocks, in April -- eight months after Biden first asked for additional aid, with the support of more Democrats than Republicans.
Of the weapons transfer authority passed in April, $4.3 billion remains, in addition to $2.8 billion worth of transfers lawmakers approved in previous spending measures and $2 billion in funding for the purchase of new weapons from industry.
In total, that $9 billion in military assistance would be a significant boost to Ukraine’s stores.
Biden's plans for the transfers were first reported by Politico. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. will continue to send munitions and anti-tank weapons such as the Lockheed Martin and RTX Javelin to Ukraine in the coming months.
In order to help Ukraine retake its territory in its ground war with Russia, more ground vehicles will be needed, as well as 155mm artillery made by General Dynamics Corp. Ukraine should be receiving more GMLRS surface-to-surface rockets, which have been under heavy use by the HIMARS multiple rocket launch system.
Analysts say it is by no means certain Washington would back any more Ukraine assistance once Republicans control the White House and at least half of Congress, especially as Ukraine experiences battlefield setbacks.
"That's going to be a problem when you go forward with additional funding for Ukraine, which at some point is going to be necessary," said Scott Anderson, a fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell declined to discuss aid for Ukraine at a press conference on Wednesday, saying he was there only to discuss election results.
As he ran for a second four-year term, Trump insisted Russian President Vladimir Putin would never have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had he been in office, adding that he "could solve that in 24 hours."
Trump told Reuters last year that Kyiv might have to cede territory to reach a peace agreement, something Ukraine has rejected and Biden has never suggested.
The vice president-elect, U.S. Senator J.D. Vance, has been a vocal critic of Ukraine assistance, arguing that government funds would be better spent on domestic priorities.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Mike Stone; additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Ismail Shakil; Editing by Leslie Adler, Don Durfee and Jonathan Oatis)
