White House warns only enough Ukraine funding for 'urgent battlefield needs'
Officials said about $6 billion remains, as some Republicans oppose more aid.
ByBen Gittleson
October 2, 2023, 3:28 PM
The White House warned Monday that the U.S. has only enough money to meet Ukraine's "urgent battlefield needs" in the short term, after Congress left additional funding for Ukraine out of a short-term measure to fund the U.S. government.
The federal government has about $6 billion left in military funding for Ukraine, according to U.S. officials.
“It is enough to -- for us to meet the -- meet Ukraine’s urgent battlefield needs for a bit -- for a bit longer,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.
About $5.4 billion of the funding is set aside to provide to provide weapons and other military equipment to Ukraine from existing American stocks, the officials said. That money resulted from an accounting error the Pentagon said it fixed earlier this year, an official said.
Another $1.6 billion remains from $25.9 billion Congress had previously provided to replenish those U.S. stocks, the officials said.
No money remains in a program meant to help Ukraine with long-term, new purchases of weapons and other material, known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, the officials said. And the U.S. has no money left to provide additional funding for Ukraine's humanitarian, budgetary or economic needs, an official said.
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https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/white-house-warns-ukraine-funding-urgent-battlefield/story?id=103665808
