National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby has said that US assistance to Ukraine has been suspended until Congress approves new funding.
Ukraine will not receive assistance from the United States for the time being
As John Kirby said during a briefing at the White House, the United States has provided the last military aid package for which it had enough money. This is a $250 million aid package announced on 27 December 2023.
The assistance we are providing to Ukraine has now stopped. And the attacks carried out by the Russians are only intensifying. And it was said earlier this week that they are using North Korean ballistic missiles to do their dirty work," Kirby said.
In early January 2024, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that the US would not support Ukraine's military funding at the level of 2022 and 2023, as it saw its goal differently.
He clarified that the goal is to help Ukraine get back on its feet and build a military-industrial base so that the Ukrainian government can finance, produce and purchase weapons on its own.
What is known about US aid to Ukraine
On 18 October, it became known that Biden plans to submit to Congress a $106 billion package of military aid to Israel and Ukraine, as well as aid to countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan.
The comprehensive package aims to attract broad bipartisan support for Israel after the 7 October Hamas attack, as well as facilitate the transfer of military aid to Ukraine.
However, the newly elected Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, said that new military aid for Ukraine and Israel should be considered separately, and not as a single package as previously proposed.
On 2 November, Speaker Johnson said that the US would combine aid to Ukraine and border protection with Mexico.
Later, the US House of Representatives approved $14.3bn in aid to Israel without mentioning Ukraine. However, as it became known earlier, US President Joe Biden will veto the budget bill on aid to Israel, which will not include funds for Ukraine.
On 7 November, Democrats in the US Senate blocked the Republican bill to aid Israel separately from Ukraine, which was voted for by the House of Representatives.
On 15 November (16 November in Kyiv), the US Senate passed the temporary funding bill and sent it to President Joe Biden for his signature. The bill was passed with 87 votes in favour and 11 against. Biden signs the bill to fund the government.
On 6 December, the aid bill failed to pass a procedural vote in the US Senate. The aid bill provided for additional budgetary allocations of $61 billion for Ukraine.
